Thoughts in college...

Columbus = CONQUERED.

2010-12-05T15:36:00.010-05:00

I can find few words to describe last night's "Columbus Invasion." Pens fans completely took over the City.

At times, the "Lets Go Pens" chants were deafening - in a visiting arena. I think I probably gave out about 300 high fives. A drunk guy picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and danced on the side walk. I met the excellent Adam & Derek - authors of The Pensblog. I lost my voice. And much more...

All in all - incredible night. Not to mention, the Pens absolute drubbing of the Blue Jackets, who just last week, were fighting Detroit for the #1 spot in the Western Conference.

This was my second time heading to Columbus for a Pens game - and once again, it was an absolutely incredible time. Times like these make me even more proud to be not only a Pens fan, but a hockey fan.

The Pens have won 9 in a row... not to mention going 11-0-1 over their past 12 games. As the always entertaining Paul Bissonette would say, "BOOM." Lets Go Pens!

ACHA-blog - Boston University Club Hockey

2010-11-14T23:06:00.005-05:00

Most hockey fans have no idea what the ACHA is, and probably couldn't care less. When it all boils down to it - the ACHA is the league for club hockey in the United States. Schools like the University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Texas, Boston College, and of course... the University of Kentucky - all have hockey teams that compete under the ACHA umbrella. The ACHA has three divisions, conferences, and crowns National champions (one in every division) every year.

Because of my not so secret love for hockey in un-traditional markets, I kind of love the ACHA, because for a lot of college students, the ACHA brings hockey to those markets. But the ACHA doesn't just operate in un-traditional markets... the ACHA brings hockey to colleges all over the Country, even those with decorated Varsity programs.

That brings us to Boston University....

This weekend BU came down to Lexington (They flew!) to play UK. (I had been looking forward to these games since I saw the schedule this past summer.) I somehow came across a video about their team on YouTube which talks about their quest to become affiliated with their University. Upon further research, it seems that BU has some rule that says that a club team won't be recognized by the University if they have a varsity team of the same sport. (BU has a varsity hockey team - a very good one at that - 2009 National Champions good.) Because of this - the BU club hockey team has no official recognition from the school. Because they don't have official recognition from the school - they can't join the ACHA (among other things). They can't compete for National Championships, they're listed as a "Non-ACHA school" on ACHA schools' calendars on the ACHA website.

Pretty much -- it sucks for them.

Schools like Boston College, Bowling Green, Ohio State - all have varsity hockey programs AND club hockey programs.

While I spent my weekend heckling the BU players, I have nothing but respect for that team. They flew to Lexington to play two games in the middle of the night against UK, and they were two great games. I wish that the officials at Boston University who are in charge of these decisions would take the time to check out this team and give them a chance for affiliation. They played two great games and represented their University with class. What more could a school ask for?

While it's very likely that I will never see the BU club hockey team play again, I hope someday in the near future I'll be able to read about Boston University officially recognizing their team. They most certainly deserve it.

Sometimes words seem awfully futile - RIP Taylor Vit

2010-10-12T15:21:00.007-04:00

I haven't posted since January. That was awhile ago. I mean... Luca Caputi was still a Penguin back then...

I've talked before about how much I love the University of Kentucky's hockey team. When I first came to Kentucky, I missed Pennsylvania, and one of the things I missed most about home was hockey. From my first trip to a UK hockey game, I was hooked. It reminded me of home, it was comforting to be around something familiar, to be around hockey... the smell of the ice, the fans, the sport. I've been going to their games for three years now, and with every game at midnight, I've grown to love the organization and even the sport of hockey even more.

On Sunday night, UK hockey player Taylor Vit was involved in a serious car accident, and yesterday, he lost his life. I've watched Taylor play for three years now... and watched him play in his last game on Saturday night. He was one of the best.

I didn't know Taylor personally, and I can only begin to understand how big of a loss this is. All those involved in this sport we love know that hockey is a family. The players, coaches, fans... it's a family. Especially in the South, where finding hockey is a little more difficult. I've never been involved in UK's hockey team as anything more than a fan, but UK's hockey team means a lot to me, and I grieve with them in this tragic loss.

I can only imagine what Taylor's friends, family and teammates are going through right now... it seems like anything I could say right now in no way could offer any comfort.

But to the UK hockey team, as a very awesome London Knights' season ticket holder once told me, "...Keep your head up and your stick on the ice," and know that all of us fans are pulling for you, and will be there to cheer you on.

We won't forget you #14.

My most heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the Vit family, as well as Taylor's friends, and teammates. God Bless.

I have a WJC hangover.

2010-01-08T18:58:00.002-05:00

This is my last post about the WJC. I promise... BUT, I must admit, I am suffering from a little bit of a WJC hangover... oh well, I guess it's kind of similar to a Stanley Cup hangover. It will pass in time...

Okay... maybe I can't *promise* that, but I don't want anyone to get bored reading this. Anyway... in case you haven't seen it, you need to watch this video.

:) Enjoy.

Reading the comments on this video are kind of funny. Whether or not you think the team doing this "chant" is arrogant, unnecessary, etc... Frankly, they're kids, and they're excited - they just won what probably was, to this point, the most important game in their lives. Let them have their fun. It's not like this is an Olympic team full of NHL players chanting this after a win.

The most BEAUTIFUL song in the world...

2010-01-06T00:25:00.007-05:00

There's nothing like listening to a bunch of 19ish year old boys singing their National Anthem off key after winning the biggest game of their lives... CHILLS CITY. Every. Single. Time.

Jack Campbell? What. A. Player. Comes in in relief... only 17 years old. WOW. I can't wait to see him again next year.

I wish more Americans knew what their countrymen did tonight.

Hats off to the Canadians... seriously. They're an awesome team, coming back from a 2 goal deficit in the last 4 minutes of the game? That's seriously incredible. Jordan Eberle? Incredible. It wouldn't have been the same if the US had beat anyone else.

Canada -- You guys seriously own this tournament. What is it... like 15 gold medals? Every year you bring an amazing team... and I'm sure next year won't disappoint. And because of that -- I can't wait for a rematch on *our* home ice.

AHHHHHH. I don't know when I'll be able to sleep. I'm seriously sooooo high on hockey victory right now. haha. (The Pens won too... wooooooo -- and Luca Caputi's goal? wooooooo)

One of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

Only 39 more days until the Olympics... U-S-A! U-S-A!

USA vs. CANADA

2010-01-05T14:01:00.003-05:00

The IIHF World Jr. Championships' Gold Medal game is tonight... a rematch of the New Year's Eve classic of Canada and the USA.

If it's anything like Thursday night's game, this thing is going to be crazy, and well... it could seriously go either way.

I CANNOT WAIT. AHHHHHH!!!

U-S-A! U-S-A!

I'm rockin' red/white/and blue today... here's to hoping for the Americans breaking Canada's INCREDIBLE five year gold medal winning streak.

Good luck boys!

Patriotism abounds.

2010-01-01T17:44:00.004-05:00

Last night the United States lost an absolute thriller to Canada in the last WJC group A pool game. But... I tweeted it last night, and I'll say it again- If the US has to lose a game to Canada, I'd much rather it be that game and not the gold medal game. haha. I guess we'll just have to wait and see (there's two difficult games standing between the US and that final game). Some NHL Network guy made a good point last night, Canada is the best team in the tournament, and the US proved that they can skate with them... that goes along way.

The biggest thing shown to me in that game? Jack Campbell the US goalie... He's only 17 years old, hasn't even been drafted yet. The kid played well under the pressure that comes with playing Canada in Canada. Granted, he did seem to get a little flustered after that first shootout goal made it past him (kind of fluky in my opinion), but overall, he played a great game. Having a veteran goalie like Campbell back in the tournament next year will be huge.

The next three games are going to be a wild, wild ride...

In other America news... the US named their Men's Olympic team today. I'm kind of bummed that Billy Guerin didn't make it, I would have liked to see his veteran presence. But alas, I like our team. I'm not crazy, we're definitely not as talented as Canada, and maybe not as talented as Russia or Sweden, but we've got some grit. That's what everyone's talking about, and I think that's what could serve to make a difference. If Ryan Miller (or Tim Thomas for that matter) plays well, then the United States could surprise some people.

What do I want in the New Year?

... and IIHF medal.

U-S-A!!!

UND & USA.

2009-12-28T12:56:00.007-05:00

Well, well, well... the other night on twitter I was pretty bored, and someone send me this little linky to a 10 minute weekly show put on by members of the UND Men's Ice Hockey team.

(this episode has Danny Kristo in it -- who is currently starring for the US Junior team - wooooooo)

The host, well hosts, of the show (this year, at least) are Mario Lamoureux and Brett Hextall. Brett is indeed the son of famous Flyers goalie, Ron. I don't know how much you follow the US National women's team, but Mario is the older brother of twins Monique and Jacqueline.

(If you look hard you can find some videos that include David Toews, yeah, you can figure out who his older brother is...)

Anyway -- I know some of you guys are on Christmas break, and pretty bored(like me). That said, you should watch these videos... they're hilarious, and really really make me want to go to a school that has a D.1 hockey team. Yay Grad school!!! woooooo

Disclaimer: No matter how much I love these videos and think the players are pretty funny... I am NOT a UND fan. If I had to pick a WCHA team it would be St. Cloud. No question. Just had to get that out of the way...

I'm feeling pretty patriotic as of late, the Olympics and other international sports tournaments really make me feel this way. Like I said before, I'm bored, so I went to the always exciting youtube and came across this video:

Yeah, I know... SUPER cheesy music, but I like it, and I'd be lying if I told you I didn't get chills at least once while watching it. (That said, I also get chills EVERY TIME I watch Miracle)

Last night at the Pens game, I told some Leafs fans, who also happened to be Canadian, that Mike Lee was going to back stop the Americans to a WJC medal. Mr. Leafs fan replied with, "Are you feeling okay?" hahaha. Probably not.

I was surprised last night with how many times chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" broke out to squelch the sound of "GO-LEAFS-GO! GO-LEAFS-GO!" Whatever happened to "LETS GO PENS!" ?? haha. Sometimes I felt like the Pens were playing the Canadian National team, not just the Toronto Maple Leafs.

2004 was the last time Canada didn't win the WJC gold medal. I'm not stupid, it's probable that they'll take their sixth straight one this year (and what an amazing feat that could be!). Yeah, yeah, and the Russians and Swedes have pretty good teams too... But, what kind of American hockey fan would I be if I didn't think my boys could pull it off?

U-S-A! woooooooooooooooooo

"It's like a little piece of MAF, wherever you go!"

2009-12-20T12:40:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, and experience, the East Coast got hit with a lovely snowstorm Friday night and all day yesterday.

My church was the only one in the county that didn't have services canceled. I figured it would probably not be the best thing to do to brave the parking lot in 3 inch heels. The shoes are cute, but not necessarily great for snow and ice.

So, I share with you, my footwear choice for this morning:

Let me tell you. This was a hott look with my black pencil skirt and red top. Oh yes... but I figure, I'd rather rock the Sorels than a cast on a broken ankle.

That brings us to the title of this post... I mentioned to my lovely friend Mer that I was wearing these this morning and she pointed out that Sorels were indeed made in Sorel, Quebec... home to the incredible Marc-Andre Fleury.

Thanks for the boots MAF!

A casual letter to a Northeast Division goalie...

2009-12-09T21:48:00.004-05:00

Dear Ryan Miller:

Twitter seems to be exploding regarding your shutout win against the Caps tonight. I didn't catch the game, sorry about that, but I'm sure it was fantastic. Anyway, reading other peoples tweets made me start to think... I've got some high expectations for you buddy.

For the longest time this was the only thing that really came to my mind when I thought of you:

I'll admit -- I thought it was a pretty good commercial... You dominated.

Anyway, anyway. Let's move on to talk about more serious things. How about... the Olympics in February? That work for you? Okay.

Yeah -- the Canadians might very well have Luongo, MAF (maybe...), and ummmm... that Brodeur fellow, but I don't think you should let that get you down. I'll be the first to admit, they have a pretty impressive resume between the three of them (We don't need to talk about the REST of their team, it's an All-Star team).

Luongo would be playing in the same city his NHL franchise plays in -- they love him. MAF (maybe, yes, if he gets picked) just proved all his doubters wrong and one a Stanley Cup, and made a last second save against a future Hall-of-Famer. And, Brodeur, well, do we really need to discuss the kind of goalie he is? Everyone knows. He's the bomb.

Is Evgeni Nabokov going to be in net for Russia? Yeah, he's never won a Cup for San Jose (haha), but well, I'm pretty certain he's got the coolest name in the NHL. Just say it - wow - it rolls off the tongue so well. Russia might have some Simeon (I'll spell it however I want) Varlamov, but who really cares -- the Caps think they've got a treasure, but the Pens solved him, and so can YOUR team. No worries there.

"YOUR" team? Who is this that I'm speaking of? Yes. The Americans.

I have an incredible, unbelievable, love for my country. I love the United States of America. It has it's faults, everything does, but I love it. The Olympics bring out the best in my competitive spirit, in puts two things that I love together: Country and sport -- that said... I want YOU to win me a medal.

Goalies have this unbelievable opportunity to win a game all. by. themselves. As a Pens fan I've watched MAF do it plenty of times. You can do it. Sure, Pat Kane, Parise, etc. should be able to help you out some, they've got skill, but the Americans need you on your A game.

[I realize at this point that Timmy Thomas might be looking to take the starting position away -- but I have faith in you!]

I know it's a long shot, you guys are a young team, and your leaders are a bunch of dudes from the Toronto Maple Leafs (how that ever happened blows me away). But stranger things have happened...

You have an opportunity -- everyone is watching. YOU can surprise the world.

I'm not asking for a gold medal, truthfully, I'm not even asking for a silver... It might be the first time in my Olympic watching memory that I'll be happy for a medal of any color, but it's the truth.

Ryan Miller... win me a medal.

All my love,

Ali

Hey! What's new?!

2009-12-01T20:48:00.004-05:00

I've been pretty awful when it comes to writing here this semester -- I haven't been overly busy, but I seem to find random things to fill my free time. Alas, I'm writing here now, because I really... have nothing to do.

(Of course, finals week starts in like... two weeks, but you know, the time for studying will come, but that time is not right now.)

When I decided to come to school down here, I never thought that I'd have any affection for University of Kentucky athletics. Truth be told, I might be the only person in the world that owns Duke and UK apparel. However, UK athletics are slowly sucking me in -- I wouldn't consider myself a fan just yet, but well... I can make no guarantees that I won't be one by the time I graduate.

[I am of course, referring to my fandom of their varsity sports, ie. not their hockey team. I love their hockey team, there is no debating that)

I finally purchased the "John Calipari UK shirt" that I've been wanting for ages. I'm not a big UK basketball fan (Calipari's their coach if you didn't know) or anything, but I find these shirts pretty hilarious (for various reasons). I'll admit, I probably don't understand how much people born and bred in Lexington love UK basketball... I can't even begin to understand.

The shirt reads: "Envy our Past, Fear our Future: The John Calipari Era is Here."

UK has been selling these shirts, since, oh... April(ish?) when they hired Mr. Calipari. The shirt shows how much pressure "Big Blue Nation" is putting on this guy. In interviews I've seen in newspapers, online, and on television Calipari always says that this is his "dream job," and that he's so excited to be in Lexington (which I trust are both true statements), but seriously -- there has to be some major stress with this gig -- he's just deciding not to talk about it. He knows very well how "Big Blue Nation" fell quickly out of love with their previous basketball coach. "Big Blue Nation" made these t-shirts proclaiming their high standards for Mr. Calipari. (I hope I never have a job like that, I'd definitely need some blood pressure medicine.)

Maybe I have different opinions since I'm an outsider (Pennsylvania born and bred baby!) living near Lexington and I'm not a student at UK, but I'm pretty sure there is only one thing that will make UK fans happy -- a national championship, and for John Calipari's sake, I hope he gets them one... quickly.

Enough about UK basketball -- they play UNC on Saturday night, that'll be an interesting game...

Random thing for the night: A girl who is the fiancee of a guy I work with at intramurals (did that make sense?) emailed me tonight saying that she's been looking for someone to interview who is a fan of Pittsburgh sports. Okay... She goes on to say, she wants to hear my opinion on all the teams, but specifically wants to talk about the Pirates. The Pirates?? Seriously?!? I think my opinion of them can be summed up in two words: They suck. (More than the Orioles)

I need to go pull up their Wiki page and refresh my memory...

Ohhhh... Alex Ovechkin got suspended today, but I'm not going to even begin to talk about that, I've already rambled enough.

22 more days before I see the Penguins square off against the always delightful Ottawa Senators. Oh yeah, and I get to hang out in Pittsburgh with my lovely friends too, and there's really only one thing to say about that:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Hockey fandom south of the Mason-Dixon line...

2009-11-19T11:05:00.003-05:00

Lovely blog readers -- Sorry I've kind of been neglecting these past couple months. I have no excuses... Anyway -- I thought I'd share with you guys an article I wrote for my school paper about my experiences being a hockey fan south of the Mason-Dixon line...

Enjoy...

I was sitting on my couch watching the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 6-0 drubbing of their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, in the last game of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals when my Dad issued a question that had yet to cross my mind, “What are you going to do at school next year,” he said with a laugh. I had no idea what he was talking about. I had my plan – Asbury College. Wilmore, Kentucky. He must have been able to tell I had no idea what he was talking about and rephrased his question, “Alexis,” he said, “The Penguins aren’t going to be “in” Kentucky…”

How had this never crossed my mind? I wasn’t going to have FSN Pittsburgh – the Penguins’ flagship television station. I wouldn’t have Mike Lange and the Penguins’ radio station on the car radio. Wait. It wasn’t just the Penguins… I wouldn’t have hockey. Period.

I’d read all about how the NHL was trying to expand south of the Mason-Dixon Line, in those same articles I had read how they were failing, and most of the time, failing miserably. I was moving south of that very same Mason-Dixon Line. What was I thinking?

As fun as it would be, I couldn’t pick where to go to college based on my favorite NHL team. I loved Asbury; I was going to Asbury whether or not there was hockey in Kentucky. I’d just have to find a way to make it work. If there was hockey in Kentucky, I was going to find it.

The start of my first semester at Asbury was still the NHL off-season, and I was quite content following the Penguins training camp and learning about their new team members via their website. However, it was soon October, which meant something more to me than pumpkins and Halloween – it was hockey season.

I followed the Penguins over the internet, reading newspaper articles, and listening to the radio feed broadcast from their website, but I still missed hockey being relevant. It wasn’t like Kentucky was Timbuktu, this was North America after all, there had to be a hockey game for me to watch, a way for me to stay connected to the sport I loved… somewhere. It was time for the hunt to begin.

Was I the only person on this hunt? Were they people out there just like me? To find the answers to these questions I went where anyone with a question goes these days – the internet. I figured the appropriate route for this task was to throw my question out in to the wide world of Twitter.

“I've gotten laughter before, but not often. Usually it comes with something like the raise of an eyebrow, even if only figuratively. Hockey fans can be kind of treated as a curiosity - often times from people who have never seen a game,” said Matt Kozlowski, a Pittsburgh native who now lives in Durham, North Carolina, when I asked what responses he gets when he tells people he’s a hockey fan.

John Winters, a current resident of Lexington, said, “It feels like the days before the Internet. Hockey isn't at your fingertips, you have to actively search for it.” Amanda Mundy, also a Lexington resident, said, “Unlike basketball and football, you have to really reach out to find fellow fans…”

Twitter brought me the answer to my question – there were people just like me, not just in Kentucky, but all over the South.

These people, somewhat more experienced than I am at living life as a hockey fan south of the Mason-Dixon Line, sent suggestions my way - reliable internet sites that broadcast games, available television packages, and hockey blogs. They also reminded me that Columbus, OH and Nashville, TN (both home of NHL franchises) weren’t all that far away. It wasn’t someone on twitter, or on a blog, but a member of Asbury’s very own admissions staff that pointed me toward something called, “Midnight Hockey” at the University of Kentucky.

From the moment I first stepped inside The Lexington Ice Center, home of the University of Kentucky’s hockey team, I loved it. “Midnight Hockey,” as it is so fondly called on Asbury’s campus, wasn’t the NHL, but it was indeed hockey. I started going more and more often, and now, a hockey game at 12am is a regular weekend activity for me. It’s completely different than any hockey game I’ve ever experienced, but some of those games and experiences rank near the top of hockey games I’ve ever experienced live.

This year, I decided that I should embark on an activity that I had yet to experience – an NHL game away from the East Coast and “traditional hockey markets.” Columbus, Ohio was the chosen destination, and it just so happened that the Penguins were playing against the Columbus Blue Jackets in October. Columbus, a mere 3.5 hour drive from Lexington was amazing. The incredible Blue Jacket fans and staff reminded me just how much I missed attending NHL games back home. I even found a positive to the whole “untraditional market” thing. Cheap tickets.

When I receive emails and text messages about the awesome times my friends back home have at games, or see advertisement online for a game or event, but I can’t attend because I’m “in Kentucky,” I still feel a little left out. Sometime it is difficult to find a reliable broadcast of the game online, but if you look at it like a treasure hunt, well, it could be worse. Before coming to Kentucky, I didn’t do much more than sleep at 12am, now, I go to college hockey games. If I had stayed in Pennsylvania would I ever have experienced an NHL game outside of a “traditional hockey market?” Maybe not.

There was a time when I thought being a hockey fan south of the Mason-Dixon Line was about as bad as it got for a sports fan, but my views have changed. Being a hockey fan south of the Mason-Dixon Line will always be an adventure, sometimes successful, sometimes not, but always interesting. And, without a doubt, being a “hockey fan in Kentucky,” will bring experiences that being a “hockey fan in Pennsylvania,” never would have.

BOOYEAH.

2009-09-22T22:43:00.002-04:00

So... I was reading some stuff online tonight (while I was supposed to be writing a paper regarding the history of the Pittsburgh Penguins) and came upon an article regarding UK's games this past weekend against Niagara University. This is an small portion of the article found on NU's website:

"Head Coach Larry Brzeczkowski would like to thank all the family members who traveled several hundred miles to take in the experience of playing the University Kentucky. The Purple Eagles skipper asserted, “this was one heck of atmosphere. It was by far the most hostile crowd I have ever experienced, in any type of sports setting.”

Please let me repeat my favorite part. The "most hostile crowd I have ever experienced, in any type of sports setting."

BOOYEAH.

Banning beer ads in.... WISCONSIN???

2009-09-04T13:24:00.005-04:00

So -- I know it's been awhile since I posted here. I offer my sincerest apologies regarding that. I had a pretty good rant on swine flu in mind, but well, I just never had a chance to type that up. I'll get on that .... eventually. Some of you might have noticed that I deleted the posts related to Blair and I's story off this blog... Have no fear it is not over, and it is not lost forever. I just moved it over to its own special blog. The link is in my blog profile.

Recently for my Sports Management class we had to write an opinion paper based on an article that was given to us by our teacher. My article was regarding the University of Wisconsin banning beer advertisement and cutting off ties with beer company sponsors. Here's the AP article about their decision. I had to write an short paper regarding my opinion on the issue. Really, I can see both sides of the opinion, and we discussed such in class. However, I want to hear (or read for that matter) your opinion on the issue... Especially you Val (:D)!

Here we go...

The University of Wisconsin recently banned beer ads from appearing during their collegiate sports broadcasts. The new policy prohibiting beer company radio ads and television ads during broadcasts of football, men’s and women’s basketball, and hockey games. However, the policy does allow the beer companies to continue hosting “tailgating tents” outside of the collegiate sporting events. The University of Wisconsin is not the first school to implement a policy of this sort. Ohio State University instated a similar policy following several years ago and many other schools are following suit after an increase in college binge drinking.

While I do see what University of Wisconsin officials are trying to do, I do not believe that removing beer ads from collegiate sports programming will decrease the amount of college beer drinking. The athletic department at Wisconsin receives close to half a million dollars a year for these ads, and that money goes to help the athletic department not just in the “big-ticket” sports, but the smaller ones as well. Taking this money away from the athletic department could very well end up hurting the smaller sports the school offers – like wresting, tennis, and cross-country.

I watch a lot of sporting events on television, including a lot of ice hockey. Drinking beer is very much a part of the ice hockey “culture,” thus there are many ads for several different kinds of beer during a regular season broadcast. The commercials aren’t just seen during professional hockey either; you see and hear beer commercials anytime you watch television, turn on the computer, or listen to the radio. Wisconsin's professional baseball team is even called the Brewers, and they play in Miller Park. Alcohol advertising is everywhere, not just in collegiate sports broadcasts.

Students at the University of Wisconsin are not going to stop drinking because they don’t see beer commercials anymore during collegiate sporting events. The students probably won’t even notice that there are no beer commercials during their viewing of a collegiate sporting event because they’ll still be seeing just as many while watching other channels and viewing other kinds of media. However, the students will notice when the athletic department has to cut programs, not offer scholarships, and not update equipment because they don’t have the money that these beer sponsorships gave them.

Ohio State University has not sold advertising or sponsorships to beer companies since 2003, and Ohio State is still known, over five years later, as a top “party school.” The push to stop underage drinking/collegiate binge drinking needs to come from a different, more visible angle. Students will continue to drink unless they see a positive reason to stop, a reason that they feel trumps the fun they have while partying. The only thing I see this new policy doing is hurting the University of Wisconsin athletic department as well as other athletic departments across the country that begin a similar policy.

------------------

Okay. That's it. haha. I had a better version of this, but I uploaded it on to the school server and I can't seem to find it. Alas, this one should be fine.

Happy long weekend friends!!!

Dear Lord Stanley...

2009-08-11T07:47:00.009-04:00

I was in Toronto this past weekend with some lovely lovely ladies, and we had the most fantastic privilege to go and kiss Lord Stanley's Cup. After all, how many times are you going to get to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame when your team is in possession of the Cup??

Last year when I visited the HHOF I didn't even touch the Cup... Now... I've kissed it. (We were informed by the HHOF guy who stands near the Cup, "You can kiss it, but no tongue." haha)

Funny thing -- a couple random people kept taking our picture when we would pose with the Cup. Maybe our pictures will end up random places all over the internet. I guess you never know. Haha.

On the way home from Toronto we discussed why it's so awesome to be hockey fans... especially hockey fans in America. It's almost like it's a special club. During our drive we spotted a car with a Calgary Flames bumper sticker. Since we're hockey fans, and they're hockey fans we had to make some comment. Right? We ended up making a little poster that said, "We love Miikka Kiprusoff" we put it up to our window and got a smile and a wave from the guy. Excellent.

I'm going to go from being in the heart of all things ice hockey -- Canada -- to south of the Mason-Dixon Line in less than three days... It's bitter sweet. I've had a great summer in Pennsylvania, full of a TON of awesome hockey memories -- especially the Stanley Cup parade in Pittsburgh. But I'm also getting excited to see my friends from AC again... I'm starting to really really miss them. Going back and forth between home and college is always bitter-sweet, but well, it's part of life...

I guess we can think of it this way -- Kentucky is full of people who have yet to be properly informed of the Pittsburgh Penguins awesome STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP!

I'll have this hanging in my dorm room...

STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS. It really never gets old.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

"Why don't we just pull an 'Eric'?"

2009-07-29T18:11:00.005-04:00

Early this morning (around 3) Blair and I were discussing the ramifications of "puck bunnies" and their reputations on the legitimate female hockey fan population. We see "pucks" a lot, especially at Bears games, and have developed a certain dislike toward them and how they make us, female hockey fans, look. Following a comment I made regarding how much the "pucks" are going to fawn over a certain Pens prospect, Blair told me this...

"We did not ask for such pathetic women to make us look bad. They don't allow progress to happen for the female gender. They hinder it. Well...we could always just pull an Eric, and hit them with a hockey stick...and say 'yeah not our proudest moment, but we had to stand up for the pride of women everywhere.'"

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This Eric she refers to in her quote is Pens prospect, Eric Tangradi, and in case you're unfamiliar with the "hit them with a hockey stick" incident... here it is:

(If you want to skip all the John Tavares goal stuff go on to right around 1:10 in the video)

Last week, at Pens prospect camp, Eric was asked during an interview about this incident:

"Not my proudest moment..."

(The part I'm talking about is at 2:20 in the interview)

(Not on topic here, but you can kind of tell by the interviewer's questions that he doesn't really watch the WJCs. "This year or last year..." & "Stuck out your ARM..." Ah well.)

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If I didn't think that it might get me arrested I might consider a hockey stick to the face of some of the "pucks" I see around arenas...

...but it probably wouldn't end up well for me with all the laws against hitting strangers and stuff. I guess I'll just have to leave it to random blog posts to do the talking...

Happy Wednesday!

The first step is admiting you have a problem.

2009-07-26T23:50:00.004-04:00

I have a problem.

I love the Hershey Bears.

If you haven't already figured out that I absolutely love the defending Stanley Cup Champions you obviously haven't read much of my blog. The Pittsburgh Penguins are affiliated with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. It's only right, that as a fan of the Pens, I am a fan of their AHL team as well.

I live in South-Central Pennsylvania... about an hour south of Hershey. Hershey is not only home to a somewhat world famous chocolate factory, but also to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. The Hershey Bears are one of the most storied franchises in the AHL, they've been around, well, forever. Even famed Canadian hockey broadcaster, Don Cherry once suited up in the chocolate and white.

Hershey is a whole lot closer to me than WBS... so that's where I go and watch the AHL. When WBS comes in to town I get decked out in my Pens gear and cheer for them, when the Bears were playing someone else, I cheered for the opponent... the Albany River Rats, etc. etc. I never cheered for the Bears, I hated them... for one main reason...

They're affiliated with the Washington Capitals. As my friend Erika says, I drink the "haterade" when it comes to the Caps. I despise them. I don't like their red jerseys, their building, their players, their coaches. I don't like anything about them, thus I most certainly couldn't cheer for the Bears.

But then... I decided to try and do something nice. A friend of mine is a big fan of Karl Alzner from when he captained Canada's World Junior team to the gold medal in 2008. She happened to mention the week before I was going to Hershey to see the Baby Pens that Alzner played for the Bears. I figured I could venture on down to their exit and get him to sign a puck for her.

That's when it started.

I'm not going to reiterate the entire story of that game or getting autographs, but if you want to read it you can look here.

My friends and I had pretty much the entire Bears' team sign our free shirts that we had got that night. We talked to them and put faces with the names we had only ever seen on the backs of jerseys. Imagine that... the hockey players were real people too.

It's all kind of snowballed from there... I returned home from school in Kentucky just in time to go and see the Baby Pens vs. Hershey in Game 7 of the AHL playoff semi-finals. We cheered for the Pens, but they ended up losing 3-0... I have to admit, I wasn't extremely heart broken, I didn't hate the Bears anymore.

The Bears continued what would ultimately become a run to the Calder Cup Championship and my my friends and I continued to go and see them play. It was the playoffs... in the home building, I couldn't bring myself to cheer against them. I told myself I was just there to see "good hockey," I didn't care who won... but I did. Different friends who accompanied us had never been down for autographs so we'd go down and end up having little conversations with the players. I hated them less and less after every game.

Then... there was prospect camp. My friend B. and I decided to take the 1 1/2 drive south to Arlington, VA to see the Capitals prospect camp. The Pens prospect camp didn't fit our schedules (and is 3 hrs. away) and we were dying to see some live hockey. I loved every single minute of it (maybe not the elevator ride, but that's not a story for the blog). That day only made my love for the Bears even worse... I didn't look at them as the future of the "enemy" anymore. They were just going to be Bears someday. Someday soon. And what did I tell myself? "Oh. They'll be Bears. The Bears are okay."

I always had looked disgustingly at the fan apparel shops at the Giant Center in Hershey. I even went as far as to buy an Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins puck in their store (they carry a puck for every AHL team). I never wanted a Bears shirt... why would I... that's practically like wearing a Caps shirt. Now... I want one. I've justified it, telling myself I'll only wear it if they're not playing the Baby Pens, but I should still have one so that I can support them. Why would I want to support them??? Less than a year ago... I despised them.

This has gotten out of hand. It needs to stop. If it doesn't stop soon I'm going to have an awfully hard time learning how to hate the "former Bears" once they're wearing that bright red Washington Capitals jersey. (My friend and I already had a little bit of a problem with that regarding Mr. Simeon Varlamov.) And I absolutely cannot start being okay with a rival of my team. A team that is lead by the biggest rival of Sidney Crosby, a guy that has taken awards away from Evgeni Malkin.

This is not acceptable...

I have a problem.

I love the Pittsburgh Penguins... and frankly, I think I love the Hershey Bears.

I probably won't see them play again until I'm home for Christmas break. I have until then to solve this problem and renew my feelings of despair toward the chocolate and white. Is it possible?

The real question is... Is that what I really want?

"Girls' Basketball - Including Summary of the Official Rules"

2009-06-23T20:50:00.003-04:00

I went to the library today. I love to read, but I very infrequently visit the library. Ashamedly, I did not get my student ID activated to check out books at the Asbury library until April. I do, however, know where all the hockey related books are in the Asbury library -- oh yeah, all six of them.

Today I was at the Greencastle library. Oh, now, you must realize that Greencastle is a bustling metropolis -- and thus, the library is quite fantastic. haha. They seem to always be fund raising, and currently you can buy books the library has discarded for a donation. What. a. freakin'. gold. mine.

I found this book -- "Girls' Basketball. Including Summary of the Official Rules" It was published in 1965... and it is quite...enlightening.

I plan on filling this book with sticky notes and highlighting my favorite sections and gifting it to my high school's girl's varsity basketball coach. Everyone deserves to know this information... so I would like to share with you my favorite sections...

#1. "A good outfit for the game" (picture included) - Your clothes for basketball should be fairly loose fitting to allow for easy movement. A blouse with shorts, or a tunic, are the most common uniforms, and socks and tennis shoes are a "must." I wish I could scan in the picture, it's priceless... The girl is so cute, so... 1965.

#2. Two teams of six players each compete in girls' basketball. Two players on each team are offensive players, two are defensive, and two are roving players. Six players?!? I honestly never knew that girls' basketball was once played this way. Best thing is, the players had positions, the defensive/offensive players aren't allowed to pass the center line... Woah.

#3. The purpose of jumping is to gain height. Here is the way you accomplish it: Assuming you are stationary, start with your feet in a narrow stride position, your toes pointing directly forward, your ankles flexed, and your knees bent (step 1). Your hips should be crouched, as shown in step 2. The amount of crouch will depend on your leg strength. A very low crouch usually assures a higher jump, but, of course, it requires greater energy. Pushing off from the balls of your feet and, at the same time stretching your arms forward and upward (step 3), make the jump by a forceful extension of your arms, ankles, knees, and hips (step 4). Pretty sure the pictures are the best part of learning how to jump, but I can't share them with you. Sad day.

At the back of the book there is an FAQ section, which is again, filled with extremely interesting information... haha Here are some of my favorites.

Q: What happens if both teams appear for a game with the same color uniform?
A: Players on the home team wear cloth coverings, called pinnies, of a contrasting color.

Really??? What a splendid answer.

Q: What happens if neither team is ready to play within 15 minutes after the game is scheduled to start?
A: The game is cancelled.

Great answer. Perfect solution.

Q: What happens if, due to an error, the free throw is directed at the wrong basket?
A: The free throw does not count.

Attempted at the wrong basket? Seriously? Why in the world would that happen??

After ready through this book, I can honestly be glad for the progressions that have been made in girls basketball over the last 50 years. Most importantly, the game is now played with five players... instead of six.

I'm sure the basketball coach who I plan on gifting this book to will be very happy to now have it in his collection... Although, it might be quite difficult for me to part with it. Just having step by step instructions on how to jump (complete with pictures documenting each step) is a great addition to anyone's library. There are also step by step instructions (with pictures) to several ways of passing, shooting, throw ins, subs, etc. (The back of the book informs the reader that 221 step-by-step live-action photographs are included) Like I said before, this book is a gold mine.

Oh, and the author's name is Mildred. Which adds to the awesomeness of this book by about 1000%.

Finally...

2009-06-17T16:25:00.004-04:00

I do believe that the Hershey Bears might have the most frustrating web page of any sports team page that I frequently visit. Maybe it's because I'm so used to the Pens website that I feel like the Bears page is a lesson in inadequacy. Their game scores are not updated by period, it's not easy to find a players game stats, etc. etc. etc.

Anyway, all this to say -- I was FINALLY able to find a picture of the Bears with the Calder Cup. They won it on Friday night -- this is the first picture I've been able to find. Bemidji State had a picture of their hockey team with their conference trophy up faster than the Bears had one up. Alas, the picture is up on their website, and now... it's on my blog...

CONGRATS BOYS!

Someday soon I'm going to write an epic post about how amazing this last season has been, and why I'm planning on making a photo collage to hang on my dorm room wall to commemorate it. Oh, and someday I'll do a post about the insanity that was the Pens Stanley Cup Championship parade. But, that someday, is not today...

Today, I'm going to watch the Baltimore Orioles baseball team play the New York Mets. When I pulled on my orange and black "baseball tee" this afternoon I felt like I was disrespecting my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins. Then I realized... today is the first day since they won the Cup that I haven't worn a Penguins themed shirt. Ah well... I guess it couldn't last all summer...

It's pouring rain, and I'm going to watch Major League Baseball.... what a splendid way to spend my evening... (please please please read sarcasm into that last sentence)

haha

We ARE the Champions!

2009-06-13T20:22:00.004-04:00

Last night was one of the most incredible things I've ever watched...

It's still kind of surreal that the Pens actually won the Stanley Cup... I can't even imagine how Sid, Geno, MAF, JStaal, and the rest of the Pens are feeling right now.

My mind is still kind of all over the place in regards to last night -- I still can't believe it!! AHHHH!!! Let me see if I can come up with some thoughts to put here...

- Max Talbot. Enough said.

- I love Dan Bylsma. Really... everything about him. I especially love his lucky purple tie. Oh, and his son Brian in the post-game presser... that scene makes my heart melt.

- MAF. After Game 5 did any member of national media actually believe that Flower could play like this? He did it. Marc-Andre Fleury is now a Stanley Cup Champion. He back-stopped the Pens to the Stanley Cup. WOOOO!!!

- I absolutely love watching Kris Letang celebrate... He completely annihilated Sid after Sid scored in Game 4 and he got some major "air" last night as he jumped into the victory celebration pile.

- I experienced first hand all the "love" that opposing fans feel for Sid when I went to a game IN Washington in March. My own brother is a Caps fan, I have to hear crap about Sid all the time. Whatever they say -- Sidney Crosby just became the youngest captain to hoist the Cup, and the look on his face when he did it. Priceless. (Oh -- and that picture of Sid, his Dad, and the Cup... another heart melter)

- Watching Bill Guerin get choked up in his interview on the ice pretty got me all choked up too... He started this season on the Islanders. When he thanked the Penguins for this opportunity. Wow. Wow. Wow. I want Bill Guerin on the Pens next season.

- Shocking thing in Game 7... Miro Satan blocked a shot. I didn't know he did that. But hey, it's Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final... even guys like Miro start putting the body on the line. haha

- I love the Pittsburgh Penguins. The ownership. The management. The players. The fans. Every single thing about them...

I actually suprised myself with the semblence with which I was able to put some thoughts down on here. I'll probably have more in the coming days... when I watch the game and the post-game coverage a couple more time. The internet makes me so happy -- this game and the fun that happened afterwards will forever be enshrined where I can access it with just a few clicks.

Oh -- I can't forget to mention that the Bears won the Calder Cup! Michel Neuvirth, the Czech goalie who took over the starting job for the Bears when Simeon Varlamov got called up to the Caps, won the award for playoff MVP. How cool is that?

Friday, June 12, 2009 was pretty much just an all-around awesome day. haha

My friend B. and I are headed up to Pittsburgh on Monday to see the Pens victory parade. I'll be sure to fill you in with any very exciting happenings that could take place.

There's really only one appropriate way that this post can be ended:

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
2008-2009 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!

As some of my favorite people have been saying today, "Is this real life?"
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Happy Wednesday!

2009-06-10T17:25:00.004-04:00

My friend Alex had the opportunity to go to Hershey last night to see the Bears in the Calder Cup Finals. This afternoon I was looking at pictures on her facebook and what do I see? Two pictures of Karl Alzner -- who has indeed come back from his concussion. :)

As much as I pretended to dislike the Hershey Bears during the regular season (and the playoffs against WBS), I must admit going to so many of their games, and meeting some of the players, I've grown quite fond of them. I understand that it's pretty imminent that I will need to learn to dislike them (or most of them) as soon as they put on that red Caps jersey, but I really have started to care about them... That said -- I hope they go back to Manitoba and win the Cup... and bring it back home to PA.

(Prior to game 7 against WBS I had a conversation with one of the Giant Center employees regarding my love-hate relationship with the Bears. Needless to say, it was interesting, but we did end up finding some common ground... He's a Buffalo Sabres & Hershey Bears fan...)

Even if they are two different organizations -- how cool would it be if both Cups ended up in Pennsylvania??? Oh -- AND we won the Superbowl AND the World Series. Oh man. This State rocks more and more everyday.

All this Pennsylvania love reminds me of this one shirt I own -- it's kind of designed like those "I love NY" shirts, but mine has the Liberty Bell instead of a heart, and PA instead of NY. Am I explaining this well?? Okay... probably not. I'll try to take a picture of it sometime.

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All this talking about Pennsylvania makes me think about how much I'll miss it when I'm back in Kentucky.... hhhhmmm....

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How can I make a post without mentioning, if only in passing, what's coming up on Friday... GAME 7... I can't even believe it. I'm probably going to be a wreck all day.

Last night in the waning moments of the game -- with Pens ahead 2-1 -- I wondered... I am more nervous now, with the Pens ahead 2-1 to stave off elimination than I will be if the Pens are up 2-1 in the waning moments of game 7???? I don't know... I guess I'll just have to wait and find out.

Here we go boys! LETS GO PENS!

6-6

2009-06-06T13:50:00.005-04:00

Today's June 6th... well... depending on how you look at it -- it's 6-6. Everyone over at the Pensblog is saying that's a good omen for game 5. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Thursday I once again made the voyage to the absolutely wonderful city of Pittsburgh. I've never loved a piece of property as much as I love the city of Pittsburgh. My friend B. and I decorated my car for the trip up... one of the pictures we had taped to the back window was:

Another one on the side of the car was this:

While I was paying our turnpike fee at the Pittsburgh exit the guy taking my money said, "You have a picture of Dan Bylsma in your window." Umm... YES. I. DO. I told him just that, we laughed and departed with a "LETS GO PENS!" mini cheer. After all, I wouldn't want to hold up the line to much by sitting there and discussing the Pens.

When B. and I made it to Mellon Arena we went in search for a parking space in one of the Mellon lots. The Mellon lots were almost completely full... it was crazy. We made it down to the big screen with our chairs and blankets to save seats for everyone else who was coming on a little bit later. It was one o'clock and the grass was almost completely full. The first thing we were greeted with was, "LADIES -- ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?!? 7.5 HOURS TILL GAMETIME!!! WOOOOO!!!"

In a couple of hours everyone arrived and we moved on to another dinner at Primanti's. Wow. What an experience. haha. The food was great -- as always -- but, let me tell you, the dinner conversation was even better. It was crazy. I'm pretty sure the other people in the restaurant (and probably the employees) thought we were crazy.

We made our way back to Mellon... and before we knew it -- GAME TIME. The entire experience was sureal -- again. The people. The game. Wow. Wow. Wow. I don't think I can even properly talk about everything that went on -- everything that happened. You had to be there. Every Pens fan should go to the big screen at least once. It is an experience to remember.

The unfortunate thing is that this is what can be found outside Gate 3 now:

The picture kind of gets me all choked up. So many memories here... Game 4 & 5 vs. Washington, and Game 5 against Detroit. Although they are the last memories I'll have at this screen for this season -- hopefully -- it won't be my last memories at the screen...

Long story short -- the Pens won 4-2. You all know that. It took B. and I about at hour to even get out of the Mellon parking lot. The streets were closed, things were crazy, but we made a bunch of new friends while waiting to embark on our over 3 hour drive home. (And we briefly talked to Dan Potash!) More than just the Penguins, I love the city of Pittsburgh because of the people. Amazing just sums it up.

To all the lovely people of Pittsburgh -- Pens fans in the yard, turnpike employees, Primanti's employees, residents walking the streets, and most importantly my beautiful friends -- THANK YOU. You've made Pittsburgh a city that I just can't stop returning to...

Well -- it's 6-6. Game 5 in 6 ish hours.

LETS GO PENS!

We have Wieters... and you... don't.

2009-05-30T10:16:00.006-04:00

I'm actually making a post that isn't *gasp* really about hockey or the Penguins. It might surprise you to learn that I can actually talk about something else... let alone... another sport! I'm going to write something about Matt Wieter's Major League Baseball debut, but it will probably come back around to hockey, because you know... some final starts tonight or something. haha.

(I might sound kind of... bitter... about the Orioles. It's because I am. Frankly, I'm tired of them losing, and I'm still kind of mad at them for trading my favorite player back in April. They wish they had him now... I'm sure. I don't what it is, but I've just always had a "glass half empty" perspective on the O's -- I can't rag on them to much though -- they're my "summer guys." The team I watch when it's hockey off-season...)

In case you don't know anything about professional baseball or the Orioles... Matt Wieters is/was the Orioles' top prospect. He's a catcher, power-hitter, etc. etc. Apparently, he is/was also the number one prospect in all of baseball. Yeah, well, we'll see if he ends up being the real deal, or if he ends up a flop. I kind of get the picture that Orioles' fans think he's going to be the guy who will save their team, the guy who will help them stop losing. They've called up "good" rookies in the past couple of years, but I've always heard, "Just wait for Wieters. Wait for Wieters."

To start the night off on the right foot -- it rained. And rained. And rained. And rained. It was more like sheets of water falling from the sky. Surprisingly enough the game only started 25 minutes after it was originally scheduled to begin. Thank goodness. I love watching the grounds crew pull up the rain tarps (check out picture above). I think "grounds crew person" for a pro baseball team would be an awesome summer job.

Soon enough -- it was time for Matt's first ever Major League at bat. Ummm... he didn't get a hit. He actually didn't get a hit all night (he was the only Orioles' player not to). He went 0-4 at the plate. Oh well. I wondered if AAA pitching was really that much slower than MLB pitching... probably not. The poor kid was nervous, so nervous he couldn't hit the ball. Understandably so -- pretty much every fan in attendance was on their feet chanting, "WE HAVE WIETERS!! *clap clap clap* WE HAVE WIETERS!! *clap clap clap*" If I were him I wouldn't have been able to hit the ball either...

We ended up getting to see a rainbow -- which was absolutely beautiful. This pretty much silenced my lamenting about why baseball had to be an outside sport. I've been to a game in Toronto -- they have a roof on their stadium, and I think that's just awesome. But, I guess, if Camden Yards had had a roof last night, the game would have started on time, but we wouldn't have gotten to see the rainbow. So, I'll take the outside game. haha

The O's actually ended up winning the game. That's their 5th win in a row. Absolutely unheard of for Orioles' baseball. haha. The fans were surprisingly into the game. Fans actually stood up and cheered, chanted things, etc. etc. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. It might have had something to do with the overwhelming excitement that they finally got to see Matt Wieters in a Baltimore Orioles uniform. Whatever it was -- it made the game more enjoyable. The fans were actually excited to see the team play... which when you're talking about the Orioles (of the 00's)... is kind of like a breathe of fresh air.

Now for the hockey talk: I'm a hockey fan first and foremost... So, obviously, at the baseball game, I'm going to be thinking about the Pens (especially because they start the SCF TONIGHT!!). The O's were playing Detroit -- There were actually a ton of Detroit fans at the game (I still don't know why), and with them came a couple of Red Wings fans. I held my tongue all night from yelling something at the people I saw wearing Wings stuff. (I only saw one guy in a powder blue Sidney Crosby t-shirt) BUT - as we were walking back to the parking garage after the game I saw a guy in a Nikky Lidstrom jersey -- I had to saying something, this was going to be my last chance. Without really thinking about it, I yelled,

"HEY -- The Red Wings suck!" (Which they don't -- obviously -- they're in the SCF, but you get the picture)

Like I said, I hadn't really been thinking, I just yelled whatever came to mind when I saw that awful red jersey -- I hadn't actually looked at the man. As soon as I yelled it he turned around and scanned the crowd on the street for who had yelled at him -- he had fire in his eyes, he wasn't very happy. It was then that I actually saw the man -- he was probably 6'6'', 350 lbs. Whoops. When he saw me (I was wearing a Pens shirt -- not hard to find) his eyes lost that fire... I could tell what he was thinking -- She's a girl. I can't argue/fight with a girl. He came over to me and just said, "What did you say?" I just smiled and said something about the Penguins... I don't even remember, and quickly crossed the street.

So - I'm glad that Wings fan had the deceny to not hit a girl, because for a split second I was afraid that he might. I was afraid that I had picked a fight with the wrong Wings fan. The only thing my brother said to me,

"Well, that was stupid. The guy was HUGE!"

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Enough of my ramblings. Stanley Cup Final begins tonight. 8 pm.

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

Eastern Conference Champions. Wowzers.

2009-05-27T13:16:00.004-04:00

101 days ago...

February 15, 2009 - the Pittsburgh Penguins name Dan Bylsma head coach. I remember exactly where I was. I was sitting on the floor in my dorm room working on punnet squares for my biology lab (call me a nerd, but I absolutely love punnet squares). Anyway, my cell phone was sitting up on my desk and my friend "SiSi" informs me that I'm getting an incoming call. I see that it's an incoming call from my Dad, I pick up my phone and all he says is, "Did you see what the Pens just did? They canned Therrien."

I couldn't believe it. For weeks media and bloggers had been calling for Therrien's head, but it really seemed like Ray Shero was going to stick with him... the Pens had won a couple games... I was really doubting that anything was going to happen. But here it had. I asked my Dad who the Pens had hired... Pat Quinn? Todd R.? No. The Pens had hired Dan Bylsma? Head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton? Okay...

I quickly got on google and typed "Dan Bylsma" into the search engine... I'm pretty sure I first visited his Wiki page. My first thought about him -- "Woah. He's young."

Anywho -- fast forward to Dan Bylsma's 100th day as Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pens are up 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Final vs. the Carolina Hurricanes go into game 4 win 4-1 and finish an ECF sweep to take the Prince of Wales Trophy. Back in February I didn't believe it would happen. I remember how excited I was when the Pens moved into eighth place. I remember arguing with my friend G. when the Pens were having a "big game" against his Florida Panthers. Now -- the Pens are Eastern Conference Champions and headed to the Stanley Cup Final. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

I was honestly shocked when Sid picked up the Trophy last night, but you know... the more I think about it, the more excited I am that he touched it, that he went ahead and picked it up. Go for it Sid -- you guys deserved it.

I am VERY excited to see this Stanley Cup Final -- no matter if the Pens play Chi-Town or Detroit, this things going to be a battle... LETS GO PENS!

Oh -- and HAPPY 100 DAYS IN "OFFICE" DANNY B!! I'm looking forward to seeing your purple tie sometime in the SCF...

Pictures. Pictures. Pictures.

2009-05-26T09:34:00.009-04:00

I wanted to leave post #87 up for today -- if only because it's game day. But, I have nothing to do before my job interview and I want to put up some random pictures that I've taken lately. Some of them belong with post #87 and some belong with that post about the Bears in the ECF, and some well... I don't know...

Enjoy.

Back on my post about the Bears ECF game someone asked about whether or not this was the goalie that went "crazy" earlier this year. I looked it up... and it was. haha. I didn't even realize that this is who it was until I researched it a little bit. What luck I have -- when I uploaded my pictures this morning... I have one of him! Very exciting. haha. If you haven't seen the video look it up on youtube... try something like, "Providence goalie goes crazy."

Look at all the empty seats. This photo makes me want to cry. This was an Eastern Conference Final game -- on a weekend -- and there was no one there. My friend's brother bought a ticket at the gate. The Bears are always ranting and raving about their high attendance. I plan to go to at least one of their Calder Cup Final games (WOOO!!), but I have to wait and see if the Pens make the next round, and what their schedule will be like before I decide which game(s). I'm pretty psyched.

#12 is Brad Marchand. Sadly, this is the best picture of him that I took. I'm pretty sure this is right before he missed the wide open net while the Baby Bruins had their goalie pulled. Yeah, it has to be, you can see that the Baby B's have six skaters on the ice. I still feel bad for him...

I said I'd upload the picture of the building in Chicago, and here I am uploading it. Very very nice job by the people who worked this out. The Blackhawks logo is not an easy one, and this is very decent rendition of it -- especially for being done with window blinds. To bad no good luck from this awesome window design could have rolled across the city to the United Center on Sunday afternoon.

I thought I'd close out this post with this awesome picture. haha. While in Chicago I met some of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yeah, it's impressive, I know. haha. They were celebrating their 25th anniversary, and gave me a free pin to celebrate! Happy Anniversary TMNT!

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Today is... finally... GAME DAY! LETS GO PENS!

#87

2009-05-25T20:29:00.005-04:00

This is... my 87th post. Thus, it is only appropriate that I dedicate this blog post to the captain of my most favorite hockey team -- Sidney Crosby.

Ummm.... this post isn't about Sid. Sorry Kid. But, I do think that maybe, since I've dedicated this post to him he can go ahead and score some goals or something tomorrow night. That would be fantastic.

I was in Chi-town yesterday. I'm not sure why I've started to call Chicago that. Is that a justifiable nickname or have I just created it for the city all by myself? Chicago was a lovely city, albeit, quite windy, but very lovely indeed. I've always hated Chicago because of O'Hare, I know that's not fair, but it's the truth. However, after actually visiting the city, I've really started to like it.

I promised several of my Chicago Blackhawks loving friends that I would dutifully high-five every Blackhawks fan that I saw. Well, I didn't high five all of them, but I did smile I yell, "Woooo!! GO HAWKS!" -- or something else like that. I was pretty upset with the lack of Hawks fans that I saw through out the city. I saw more Red Wings fans than I saw Hawks fans. I kept telling myself that this was because all the Hawks fans were in the United Center actually watching their team. My favorite thing was some big building that had their window blinds pulled differently to make the Hawks logo -- I took a picture and I'll upload it sometime in the next week...

I asked our waiter at lunch if he was a Hawks fan, and he said he was. I told him that although I am a dedicated fan of the Pens, I was cheering for his team to win the Western Conference Final. I told him that I wanted my team to face his in the Stanley Cup Final. He smiled and told me, "Well, I'm just happy that hockey is relevant here again, I don't care if they win anymore, they've had a good season, that's all I can ask for." WHAT?!?! That's all he wants?!?! A good season?!?! Okay, yeah, a lot of teams would just take a winning season... but still...

He did tell me that he thought the Pens would win their series. "You have the second best player in the world - that Crosby guy." I dutifully asked him who might this better player be? He didn't know his name. "That Russian guy." I was like, "WOO... EVGENI MALKIN?!?" No. He was talking about Ovechkin... but still... he didn't know his name. I'll just blame it on a brain fart or something.

For the most part, all the Hawks fan that I tried to high-five looked at me like I was crazy. It made me begin to feel quite awkward. The worst time was while we were sight-seeing at "the bean." (I'm not really sure what it was -- a big silver "bean" shaped thingy) This lady was wearing a Hawks tshirt and a hat -- I was walking right past her, smiled and said, "YEAH! LETS GO HAWKS!" (Even though I knew that they were down 5-1 at this point) She got this horrid look in her eyes... she had no idea why I was talking to her, why I would say that to her. She obviously had forgotten what she put on that morning. Blah.

-----------------------------

This afternoon on my way home we stopped at the "50 States" store in Breezewood. I'd heard they had a lot of fun Pens stuff, and I wouldn't to see for myself. They did indeed have a lot of cool stuff (and a lot of knock-off jerseys). I ended up getting this shirt that says, "Stanley -- Come Home" with the number "71" on the back, and this water bottle-esque thing. Fantastic.

I'm tired of waiting for Game 4 of the ECF. This whole 2 day wait thing is awful. Thankfully, I have stuff to do tomorrow to "entertain" me prior to the 7:30 start time. First, a dentist appointment at 8:30 (8:30!?!?! Ugh. I hate the dentist). Second, a JOB INTERVIEW!!!! Oh baby... I might finally land myself a job. And, it's at a coffee shop... what a fantastic place to have a job interview, somewhere that I can feed my caffeine addiction all summer. SUPER.

------------------------------

Semi-random thing I realized today: I miss my friends.

My Shalom amigos.
My Asbury "kids."
My hockey ladies.

I love you all.

It deserves a post...

2009-05-23T15:52:00.004-04:00

So -- a friend of mine just put this up on her facebook and I had to post it here... I figured it would be appreciated since much has been said about the fight at the end of the game on Thursday.

Kris Letang's hair deserves a post of it's own. Wow. Just WOW. WOW. WOW.

Here's to hoping he never ever cuts it.

The only thing that would have made this picture better was if we could have seen Miro's part of the fight. I still can't believe he actually did that. Unbelievable. I really didn't know he did that sort of thing. I guess, in the playoffs, anything is possible...

GO PENS!

Sports Illustrated is trying to report on hockey...

2009-05-21T14:26:00.007-04:00

I have only one magazine subscription to my name -- and that is a subscription to Sports Illustrated (a subscription that comes without that swimsuit edition...haha). I want to get a subscription to The Hockey News, but have yet to get around to it. I like all sports, and become quite the baseball watching fiend from late June to September when there isn't any hockey on. I go to baseball games in Baltimore to watch the O's (who absolutely suck) and wear one of my Pens t-shirts. Why? Pretty much because I own no O's apparell, and also because, well, a part of me is just hoping that someone at the baseball game will see my shirt and invite me into a conversation about ice hockey. It happened once, and I can only imagine that if I keep doing it -- it will happen again.

I got so off topic there. That off topic-ness kind of tells my story though -- I like all sports, but I love hockey and the Pens. The reason I chose to get Sports Illustrated is because I believe I need to have some balance in my sports knowledge. 1 other person on my college campus actually cares about hockey. What about all the other sports loving people? I have to be able to discuss something with them. Sports Illustrated has served me well in that regard, I can tell you all about the up and coming stars of the MLB, NBA, and the NFL. I know who the Detroit Lions drafted with their number one pick in the NFL draft last month, and today I learned a whole bunch about Lebron James. Do I care? Not really. But as someone who is interested in working in PR in sports someday, I really feel like I to expand my horizons other than just hockey... even if I don't want to.

Anyway, anyway.... the point of this is that today I got my Sports Illustrated in the mail, and my brother's subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids came (at 15, he is hardly still a "kid" in this sense, but... whatever). There were some hockey related things that I found interesting, in every sense of the word...

Thing #1 -- This has actually nothing to do with Sports Illustrated itself. It was a player's poll, and I supose, they accurately are reporting their findings. (The "Player's Poll" section is one of my favorite sections) Today's asked, "Who is the best player in the NHL?" The only voting rule? You can't vote for someone on your own team. A.O. got over half the vote (51%), okay, I understand that (I don't have to agree, but I do understand). Next will 11% was Nick Lidstrom, okay, he's a great defenseman... Tied for third with 7%, we have Pavel Datsyuk and Geno. Rounding out the top six with 5% we have Jarome Iginla & Henrik Zetterberg. According to the small print, Sid received 1.8% of the vote. 1.8% seriously? Please don't misunderstand -- I think all of these guys are GREAT hockey players, and I'm not going to be a homer and say since I'm a Pens fan that Sid's better than all of them. I'm posting this just for the fact that I thought it was quite interesting... Sid didn't crack the top 6. It IS interesting. Hey, it's NHL players voting for on what they know best -- being an NHL player...

Thing #2 -- This was actually what the main thing I wanted to post in this, because I found it exceptionally funny. In my brother's Sports Illustrated for Kids they are running a "Top 20 under 20" story. You know... the top 20 athletes under the age of 20 type thing... The titled it, "Meet the Next Generation of Superstar athletes." The "20" include a freshman quarterback for USC, the 2008 Rolex Junior Player of the Year (golf), a pitcher from the Little League World Series, and a fourteen year old motorcycle racer. What's the big deal you ask? The whole point of this story is that they're letting you in on some "little known secret." Guess who else is included on the list? 18 yr. old John Tavares.

I've never seen him in person, but I watched him for two weeks during the WJC, and well... John Tavares is a fantastic hockey player. But honestly, this is an article full of kids who no one has heard of, and honestly, more than half of them we probably will never hear of. Like I told my Mom -- They're (SI) pretending like they are telling us about someone new, someone who's going to be awesome someday -- Canada & hockey fans have known about John Tavares for YEARS already. He's almost guaranteed to be the number one pick in the NHL draft next month... He's won 2 Gold medals at the WJC's, and was the MVP this year. His accomplishments far outweight the accomplishments of the other athletes on this list. Yes, John Tavares is one of the top 20 athletes under 20, but I do I think he should be on this list? No. Why? Because, frankly, I think they should just give him his own article. But, it's Sports Illustrated, and he's a hockey player, so that we all know that that will probaby never happen...

Thing #3 -- Three things related to hockey in Sports Illustrated in one week? I know. Amazing. This is actually also in SI for Kids (big SI is super concerned with the NBA playoffs right now). SI for Kids does a NHL goalie Head-to-Head comparison between Evgeni Nabokov and Tim Thomas. That's all fine and dandy except for the fact that both of them have been eliminated from the playoffs already... Best thing is at the end of the comparison they have an "our pick" section. Next to Nabokov the author writes, "Nabokov's experience and sound technique will help lead the Sharks to the Cup." hhhhmmmm.... okay...

Here I am rambling and complaining about SI's lack of decent hockey coverage... I should just post this and go to the Hockey News website and get myself a subscription. Plus, I hear you get a pretty swell key chain when you subscribe.

Fantastic. I just might do that.

I sincerely apologize for my sometime incoherent ramblings about the unfairness of SI... They do decent sports reporting, just not decent from the eyes of this hockey fan (even if I am trying to keep my sports knowledge broad). Hockey fans complaining about them is really... nothing new.

Eat. Sleep. Watch hockey.

2009-05-19T17:02:00.002-04:00

Those three things have defined my summer so far. Fun? Yes. Productive? No.

On Sunday I ventured back to good 'ole Hershey to watch the Bears in game two of the AHL's Eastern Conference Championship. The Bears are playing the Providence Bruins (AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins). My friend B. and I discussed that like it was in the Semi's with the Pens & Caps playing each other as well as their AHL affiliates playing it could have been in the Conference final if the Caps and Bruins had won their series. BUT, they didn't. WOO. haha.

Anyway, I went not necessarily to cheer on the Bears, but to watch some playoff hockey. I'm still kind of bitter about the Bears knocking the Baby Pens out. Blah. Around the middle of the second period when the score was still 0-0, I began cheering on the Bears. I've watched them to much this season -- I know the players names, I've talked to a lot them, it's hard not to cheer them on. (Alzner was scratched again that night... B. and I are starting to wonder if maybe he's injured or something) The only two Providence players I was even vaguely familiar with were Brad Marchand and Martin St. Pierre. I had seen St. Pierre play back in December when he was up with Boston and they were playing the Pens. That's back when the Pens were in their "slump," and St. Pierre scored a shorthanded goal to make the score 4-2 Bruins -- he scored the goal that made me think, "Well -- I guess the Pens aren't going to be winning this one". I was quite mad at him and his tucked in jersey that night.

When I saw St. Pierre on the back of the Providence jersey I knew right away who it was, and I remembered right away why I knew him. Boston. Short handed goal. December 30th. On the other hand, I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why I knew Brad Marchand's name. After all, I don't really consider myself well versed on the Bruin's prospects. I even texted CHACHA and asked them who he was, thinking that maybe they would say something that would remind me of why I knew his name... still nothing. Seriously, I just figured this out, probably about 3 minutes ago. I do believe that Brad Marchand was mentioned (maybe frequently) somewhere on Mer's W2TBL site. (Okay -- so I went over to W2TBL and figured it out -- Marchand is mentioned in the fantasy casting post -- being cast as Pat) That's why I know his name, why I felt like I've seen him play before, why I felt like I "knew him." I'm so happy to have finally figured that out. Phew.

All in all, it was a good game. Both teams played excellent defense, and both goalies robbed the other team of superb scoring chances. The Bears finally broke the 0-0 tie in the start of the 3rd when they scored 2 goals in pretty quick sucession. The Bruins made it 2-1 on a PPG with about a minute and a half left to play. Plenty of time to get that goal to tie it up at 2... the B's pulled their goalie and played the 6 vs. 5... with about 15 seconds left the got a face-off to the right of the Bear's net. The B's won the face-0ff, sent it to the point, and then sent it to dear Brad Marchand who was WIDE WIDE WIDE WIDE open to the right of the Bear's net. Neuvirth (Bear's goalie) was off in lala land or something, way out of postition, which left Marchand not only wide open, but with a wide open net, it really seemed like he had the puck forever... he finally shot it... he sent it WAY WAY over the net and into the netting. Game over. Bears win.

I felt so bad for the guy... as the Bears moved in to celebrate their victory which made the series 1-1 going to Providence, Marchand just stood there, his hands on his knees. I was up on the 200 level (very very close to where all the scratches sit), but you could just see/feel his disbelief -- he couldn't believe he missed that shot. Frankly, I couldn't believe it either, you don't see it happen often-- that wide open with that wide open of a net. Thinking about it now -- I still feel bad for him. Well, here's to hoping that he puts one home in game 3 to make up for it. :)

I didn't mean for this post to become a break down of the Bears/Bruins game... Ha. But once I figured out why I felt like I knew Marchand that's kind of what it became. Oh well. This post was going to talk about my last two days trying to do something "productive." Trying to find myself some summer employment -- let's just say -- it's days like these last two that I remember why I'm going to college... to get myself a degree so that I can get a job doing something that I love. Because, honestly, I've never had a job that I loved, and by the looks of things, I won't be having one of those this summer either. haha. Bring on the waitressing and cow milking!!! WOO.

"Live Well and Prosper"

2009-05-16T00:06:00.003-04:00

I wanted to watch the Memorial Cup playoffs tonight, but instead I ended up getting drug out of the house by my Dad and brother to go and see the new Star Trek movie. I don't even know what its "real" title is... I just refer to it as the "Star Trek movie."

I've never known anything about Star Trek, I've flipped by it while channel surfing, but never stopped to watch for more than seconds. However, as an American, I kind of feel like some of it has been born into me. There's stuff like that for every culture, and Star Trek might as well be a part of mine. I always knew the phrase "Beam me up Scotty," even though I had never watched a single episode. I knew the names of "Spock" and "Captain Kirk." I knew all this, but honestly, in my mind, Star Trek was the television version of Star Wars where some of the characters had pointy ears.

Ashamedly, I *might* have put the people who are Star Trek "super fans" in a stereotypical box. Nerds? Science fiction fanatics? I don't know what to call it, but you have to admit, it is kind of scary when you see people collecting all those action figure dolls right? Right? My Dad and my brother wanted to see the movie -- I absolutely did not, but I went, and....

I. LOVED. IT.

I don't even know what it was that caused me to find such love for this kind of odd, science fiction, TV show made movie flick. Does it even really matter? Here I am -- being sucked into a cultural phenomenon that began before I was even a twinkle in my mother's eye.

Trust me, I'm not going to become one of those people who collect the action figure/doll things or go to the conventions, but I do have a new appreciation for these people... and new understanding for why they do such things.

As I look over my first week of summer vacation three things define it:

3. A new found understanding and love for Star Trek

2. A new found love of knitting (after all -- everyone wants to knit wool scarves in May)

1. A rekindled love for my most favorite team playing my most favorite sport... there's no season better than the Stanley Cup playoffs... (I watched game 7 of the Pens/Caps series 3 times, two other game 7's, three game 6's, and other random playoff hockey associated things... wow)

-----

Star Trek? Knitting? Ice Hockey?

Oh dear. How many other people put together an interest list like this. Everyone can have their own interests, and some people's just end up being more... ummm... diverse than others? Maybe this post just needs to be summed up the way it was titled -- in the words of Spock --

"Live well and Prosper."

BOOYEAH!

2009-05-13T22:04:00.004-04:00

I felt sick and nervous all day... all that sickness and nervousness slowly drained away as the Pens kept scoring and scoring and scoring...

Wow.

This game was just -- WOW. Those are the Pittsburgh Penguins that I like to see. They absolutely controlled the game... everything about it.

My favorite goal of the game? :

CRAIG ADAMS. He was most certainly due for a goal in the playoffs. This was, according to FSN, his first playoff goal ever. Yet -- he has won a Stanley Cup. Ah well -- I'm glad he finally got it. It was quite lovely. You know, Sid's goals weren't all that bad either... maybe it had something to do with that piece of toast from yesterday morning. :)

B. and I were wondering if we might get to see Varlamov back in Hershey this weekend?? Hhhmmm... probably not, but hey, he could always try and get that other cup...

Tomorrow night's game sevens are going to be quite epic as well... Detroit/Anaheim. Boston/Carolina. Oh... I love playoff hockey...!!!

GO PENS! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game 7: Baby Pens vs. Hershey

2009-05-13T00:43:00.011-04:00

So... the Baby Pens got shut out in Game 7 -- 3-0. It was a pretty sad game. They had their share of chances, but the Bears goalie (Nuevirth? -- or something like that) was pretty insane. It makes me a little worried to think about the goal keeping talent that Washington has stacked up. First Varlamov and now this kid (who looks like he's about 13).

(Opening face-off)

B. and I sat in a virtual sea of Bears fans -- which is no surprise since we were in the Giant Center. Much to our relief none of them were jerks, and just sat quietly (which was weird -- quiet... during a hockey game... a game 7??) and watched the game. The attendance tonight was announced at around 8300, which is awful considering that the Giant Center seats around 10500, and tonight was a GAME SEVEN!!! Oh well...

(B. and I took a "stunned" picture of ourselves following the 3-0 loss... boo)

Like I said -- the Pens didn't play badly, but they were out shot and took many more penalties. Which -- in a game against a strong team like the Bears, is going to kill you mostly every time. Towards the end of the game B. and I just started figuring which of them we would like to see up in Pittsburgh next season. Tw0 of my personal favorites -- Paul Bissonnette & Tim Wallace -- were both scratched tonight. I have no idea why Wallace was scratched, but we saw Biz Nasty after the game and his arm is all wrapped up from his hand to above his elbow. (I had heard about him getting cut or something -- but this looked a lot worse than I thought it would have been.)

During the first intermission we figured out where the scratches sit, and considered going up there to talk to them, but couldn't really get our nerve up to actually do it...

(Bear's scratches)

(The Pen's scratches were pretty much just sitting in the stands -- how cool would it have been to be in that section)

Following the game we decided we were going to go and try to get autographs from the Baby Pens... that experience can be summed up in one word = FAIL. haha. Long story short, we stood with some Baby Pens season ticket holders who talked to the players like they were best friends and we felt stupid asking for autographs. We got one from Dustin Jeffery, but the rest of the guys just meandered on to the bus looking like, well, they had just lost a game 7. It was actually pretty sad. As we walked back to our car we passed where the Bears stop and sign autographs -- we couldn't help ourselves... we needed to get them to sign our poster:

(We saw this "fact" on facebook -- and couldn't help but make a poster -- since the Bears won game 7, we figured it would be appropriate to ask them to sign it)

Oh the Hershey Bears. If I didn't love the Pens organization as much as I do it wouldn't be hard for me to fall for the Bears organization. I say the Bears organization because I despise the Capitals organization to the full extent of despise. I wrote about it before -- these guys never cease to impress me with their willingness to sign stuff for their fans. There were a lot more people there tonight, but the guys signed tons of stuff, talked to people, and even posed for a ton of pictures. B. convinced me to ask Karl Alzner if I could get a picture with him, but he never came out and signed (He was a healthy scratch... and we saw all of the "scratches" drive away without stopping to sign -- Oh well).

Anyway -- quick funny story. So, I'm standing there getting Chris Bourque (who's father is that Bourque who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado) to sign our poster when one of the other players comes up to us, puts his arm around Chris, looks at me and says, "Oh Chris -- You're such a hottie... huh ladies?" I didn't even know what to say -- awkward situation for sure. Chris is a great hockey player and all, but umm... honestly... he's shorter than me... I don't find him all that attractive. I just kept looking at the poster and this other player just can't let it die, "What a hottie! Chris -- you always get the girls eh? Come on ladies -- you have to agree with me right? Right?" About that time Chris finished his signature, looks at his "friend" and kind of gives him that "holy crap you're really embarrassing me" look and looks back at us. I just smile and say, "Thank you," and then turn to get someone else to sign it. Yeah... maybe you just had to be there, but it was quite an interesting situation.

LATE EDIT: Upon further review, and some checking of the Bear's roster... B. and I have decided that Chris's friend was probably Francois Bouchard.... Just in case you were just dying to know...

Yet another superb experience at a Hershey Bears game... even if the team I was there to cheer on did end up losing. Sad day. As long as their NHL counterparts get the job done later tonight I will be a very happy camper. It was hard enough watching the replay of Steckel's OT game winner on the big screen during a time-out. The Pens need to win this thing... I might just go to sleep now and sleep until gametime. Haha. Maybe not. Game 7's are not good for my blood pressure.

GO PENS!

Breakfast never ceases to impress me...

2009-05-12T10:45:00.004-04:00

I'm watching CSI:NY and I have a hard time concentrating when I'm doing anything else... I lose track of the evidence, the suspects, etc, so this isn't going to be a long post, but I just thought I'd update you all on a matter of state wide importance.

In my post last night I mentioned my friend A. and I discussing how awesome it would be to find a sign in our toast that tells us that the Pens are going to win tomorrow night... Wouldn't that just be so stinkin' awesome? Yeah it would be. We discussed various ideas of what the sign could be. A "W" maybe for "WIN," but that could also stand for umm.... something else. So, we thought some more and decided that an "87" would be the perfect sign. The number of Sidney Crosby, our beloved Captain.

I slept in this morning... because that's what summer is for huh (and I don't have a job... whoops)? And... I just freakin' love to sleep. Anyway, I come downstairs and this is what I find on the kitchen counter:

Caps fans everywhere better start shakin' in their boots. The Pens are winning this thing tomorrow night... And you know, I think that Sid just might get that game winning goal.

WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

*P.S. If any stupid Caps fan go and start saying stuff like "What about Donald Brashear... he's #87 for the Caps???" Well -- okay -- yeah, he is. But we all know that he's not "the" #87 in the NHL.

*Oh -- and I'll be sure to update you all about my lovely experience at game 7 tonight for the Baby Pens and Hershey. At least I'll have somewhat of a warm up to the stress I'll be feeling tomorrow night.

DO IT.

2009-05-11T22:36:00.003-04:00

Tonight hurt. It hurt to the extent that the thought, "Oh, why do I put myself through this?" entered my mind...

It might have hurt more than losing to Detroit in the SCF last year... I don't know why, but I really think it might have...

However -- there is one thing that can make this hurt go away... VICTORY.

Wednesday. Wednesday. Wednesday.

Honestly, part of me doesn't even want to watch the game on Wednesday. I want to go to sleep at about 6:30, sleep twelve hours, and then wake up on Thursday morning and see that the Pens won the game, and took the series. Next -- I would go downstairs and sit in my PJ's and watch the replay of the game... Fantastic. Unfortunately, I can't do that. I have to watch it. Also unfortunately, I can't know what's going to happen before the game. My friend's brother A. suggested that maybe we can get a "sign" telling us that the Pens are going to win. Perhaps I get my toast out of the toaster tomorrow morning and realize that there is a burned "87" in the bread... or maybe even an outline of the Stanley Cup. Then we would know -- the Pens are going to bring this thing home in DC.

Part of me is confident that the Pens are going to bring this thing home.... part of me doesn't want to get confident because I'm scared out of mind about what *could* happen.

Oh gosh. I don't even want to think about this. I want it to be Thursday, and I want, more than anything else, to see all the headlines about the Pens win that morning while I eat my toast -- maybe even with a burned #87 in it. haha.

As scared out of mind as I am about Wednesday night -- there's another game 7 in my mind -- Hershey Bears vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow night. My friend B. and I got tickets and we're going to go and cheer on the Pens loud and proud. They have yet to beat the Bears at the Giant Center this series, but hey, there's always a first time. B. and I are going to have a pre-game party tomorrow afternoon to make some posters and watch either Mighty Ducks or Miracle.

I need some sleep. I need to watch some random comedy movie or something. I feel so sick about these next two games. Oh please Penguins -- bring home two game 7 victories. Please. Please. Please. Don't let my summer be ruined this early...

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

In the words of the always awesome Pensblog -- DO IT.

Oh Pittsburgh!

2009-05-10T19:15:00.007-04:00

I had the crazy awesome opportunity to spend this past weekend with some awesome hockey bloggers in Pittsburgh. "Crazy awesome" doesn't even begin to describe the time we had. The seven of us all have different "#1" teams... Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Ottawa -- but all of us were together in the Mellon Arena yard cheering on the Pens this past weekend.

I don't really even have sufficient words to describe how much fun I had this weekend -- I truly feel like these ladies that I met through hockey blogs will be friends of mine for a lifetime. I don't know if other sports have this, but the community, the friendship that hockey brings to people is incredible. It was even evident in the yard -- people we didn't know -- but we all loved the Pens. Giving high fives and hugs to people we didn't even know -- just because the Pens had pulled out that crucial Game 5 win in OT.

I can't really even blog about this weekend -- I guess, you had to be there... However, I'll post a couple of my favorite pictures...

The yard in Game 4 -- Pens win!! WOOOO!!! Crazy crazy awesome!!

Lauren's birthday cake was consumed in the Mellon Yard...

...Yep -- We DESTROYED that cake. :)

My very first Primanti's sandwich. Seeing this picture makes my mouth water... Wow.

Brooks Oprik Penguin watch Game 5 on the screen... Pens win in OT!!

One of my new friends from the weekend... who is one of the co-authors of a splendid Buffalo Sabres blog, had this as her facebook status:

"Is it wrong that I want to go back to Pittsburgh after only 6 hours of being home? Because if it's wrong, I don't want to be right."

I'm pretty sure that sums up how I feel right now -- watching Game 6 tomorrow night just will not be the same.

However sad it is to all be spread about again -- I can say pretty confidently that this won't be our last "party" together! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

OH YEAH!

2009-05-07T22:36:00.004-04:00

Here I am... sitting at my kitchen table... in good 'ole Pennsylvania...

It feels good to be home...

I love this state -- pretty much everything about it...

*happy dance*

Tomorrow... Pittsburgh!! WOOOOOOO!!! (Which reminds me -- I have an unreal amount of unpacking and packing to do before I go to bed. Blah)

*happy dance* *again*

I hate being away from my computer for so long -- so many interesting things happen while I'm in that horrendous stretch of highway between Kentucky and Pennsylvania. For instance:

*Manny gets suspended for 50 games for the use of an illegal substance. This substance was prescribed for erectile dysfunction. Seriously, do we really need all that information? No.

*Some kid on one of the Pens' message boards is getting investigated by the State Police for making a death threat against Alex Ovechkin. Okay. The strangest thing about this whole story -- the kid lives in Chambersburg... haha... So very close to where I live. I'm dying to know who it was -- I know so many kids to who go to the public high school... I'm sure I could track him down. Maybe I'll get on that...

Like I said, so many terribly interesting things happen in those mere 8 hours...

I just realized that the Van vs. Chicago game is going into OT. Yes, I need to pack, but I just can't handle not watching some overtime in the playoffs. It's just to good... way to good. It might very well be a late night...

To those of you I'll be seeing tomorrow: WOOOO!!!

WOO!!

2009-05-06T22:19:00.003-04:00

Dear Kris Letang: We all love you... and tonight, you just made us love you even more. Thank you for scoring your first playoff goal ever. You pretty much made my night. You're the greatest! Love, Alexis

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PENS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and Feds... Thank you so much for your goal... and your monster 8 hits... !!! Love, Alexis

USA! USA! USA!

2009-05-06T13:52:00.006-04:00

Along with this blog, I have now found another aid to my procrastination -- Universal Sports. Seriously -- how kind is it that Universal Sports will broadcast live -- online -- for free -- the USA's quarterfinal game against Finland today? Very kind of them. I'm so happy with Universal Sports right now that I just want to go and give them a hug (which is a HUGE thing for me...)! They most certainly deserve that hug... I've been looking forward to watching this game for awhile now.

LATE EDIT: So -- the live video feed won't work for me. My friend B. at home in PA has it working for her... but it doesn't work for me. I'm not going to blame Universal sports -- at least they're trying. I'll blame the stupid Asbury internet, that has to be the problem. That, or maybe, they don't consider Kentucky part of the United States. This is such a disappointment. Sad day.

LATE EDIT #2: Team USA beat Finland 3-2. I never did get the feed to work on my computer, but I followed the game via text while I *studied* for my Intro to Comm test that I have tomorrow. So very exciting! This means that the USA is going to the Semi's for the first time since '01. They face Russia on Friday night. It's going to be a big task for them to beat the defending champs... but they can do it! Come on USA-- bring home a medal!!

I'm taking my last final tomorrow morning at 8 am. I haven't studied for it at all. Oh well. My friends and I have all discussed that the last final is only the hardest because the time you get there -- you certainly don't feel like studying anymore.

This morning in my 8 o'clock final, my Prof began calculating how many finals he's taken through out his education. His guesstimate -- around 150. Wow. Just Wow. Just goes to show what exciting things I have to look forward to. (However - I do not plan on ever having to take *that* many)

Well -- I suppose I should go and at least crack open my text book for my last final. Especially since I'm going to Bdubs tonight to watch the Pens game, hockey games take chunks of time out of my life. haha. But, that's okay. :)

USA! USA! USA! USA! -- - --- - -- -- - LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

1 more final.

1 more day in Kentucky.

2 more days till PGH.

Some more numbers...

2009-05-05T17:17:00.003-04:00

I honestly don't know why I'm doing a post like this again. I hate numbers.

2 - finals I took today

2 - finals I have left to take before summer

2 - number of games the Caps have to win in order to make it to the Eastern Conf. final (blah)

4 - number of games the Pens need to win in order to make the final (they can do it!)

2 - days until I go back to Pennsylvania

3 - days until I go to Pittsburgh

3 - cans of Diet Coke I've drank today (My friend H. tells me I have a caffeine addiction - I probably do, but finals week is not the time to try and break it)

2 - hours I've spent studying for my Narratives & Ideologies of Hollywood final tomorrow

2 - hours I spent working on packing up my room

1 - hour I waited for my Prof. to show up so that I could take my final at 8 am (So - actually - I didn't take it until 9)

6 - number of posters I pealed off the walls of my dorm room

3 - friends I have that have already left for summer vacation

0 - amount of love I have left for Simeon Varlamov (I freakin' loved him while he played in Hershey)

1 - friend who laughed at me because the Pens lost to the Caps last night (He's a FL fan... ha)

Me = loser.

This post was dumb.

I just really DO NOT feel like studying for what should end up being my hardest final yet. I'm going to go and drink some Gatorade... and go to dinner... and then, I guess, because I have to, I'll study.

Is it Thursday @ 10 am yet???

Just throwing out some numbers...

2009-05-04T09:54:00.005-04:00

8 - hours I spent yesterday studying for finals

1.5 - hours I spent taking a study break to Lexington to visit the Krispy Kreme doughnut store

(So -- You can see that guy laughing in the background? He and his two friends laughed at my friends and I as we enjoyed our doughnuts while wearing our awesome cool Krispy Kreme doughnut hats... haha... It was so nice when I discovered he had walked into my picture)

12 - doughnuts we bought at Krispy Kreme (don't worry -- there are still some left -- we haven't eaten them all...yet)

1 - final that I had to take today

4 - finals I have left to take before summer vacation begins

40,000 - number of commercials the average American tv viewer watches ever year (I have to know that for one of my finals... woo)

2 - finals I have tomorrow (Biology & Expos/Research)

5 - hours it will probably take to finish cleaning and packing up my dorm room

10 - hours my roommate has been sleeping (and she's still going strong...haha)

4 - hours I slept last night

7 - number of games the Hershey Bears vs. Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins series has to go to in order for me to get to go and watch a game

2 - number of wins the Hershey Bears have so far in their series

0 - number of wins the WBS Pens have (it should be noted that in last night's 3-1 win for Hershey that my dear friend B. attended -- neither Janne Pesonen or Karl Alzner played -- and we don't know why...)

3 - overtimes that the Ducks/Wings game went to last night -- WOW.

3- days until I return to beautiful Pennsylvania

4 - days until I venture up state to Pittsburgh to spend the weekend

???? - hours spent studying today for my two finals tomorrow

That studying? Well... It's going to have to wait because, now... IT'S NAP TIME! WOOO!! Pens play the Caps again tonight -- it's going to be another "big game." But honestly, it will probably end up that every game in this series is going to be a "big game."

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

Wondering...

2009-05-02T19:40:00.002-04:00

I wasn't able to watch the Pens game today on NBC because our local NBC station (LEX 18) decided that it would be more advantageous to show local coverage of the Kentucky Derby in addition to the National coverage that was scheduled to play following the Pens game. I guess that's one of the downfalls of living in the "horse capital of the world." I've been complaining and venting about NBC all evening... but I have to admit, it was kind of nice to listen to the Pens radio feed -- I'll never get tired of hearing those guys.

But, the Kentucky Derby coverage brings me to my real question -- the thing that really begs me to wonder... The Derby takes place about an hour and half away in Louisville, KY, but here in Lexington we have our own track -- Keeneland. While LEX 18 was doing their post-race coverage of the Derby they mentioned that at Keeneland they were showing the NBC feed from the Derby on their jumbotron....

WHHHAAATTT?!?!

They were showing an NBC feed on a jumbotron? And Keeneland was having a party to watch the race on the jumbotron???

Isn't this kind of reminiscent of the Pens showing their games on the big screen? I don't know -- maybe I don't know all the specifics, but it at least seems like NBC is kind of confused about what all their policies are. Maybe it's true, and NBC does just really hate the NHL. Hhhhmmm...

I'm not going to talk about the game... I don't really want to dwell on it... But, I did read that the last six times the Pens beat the Caps in the playoffs -- The Caps won the first game. :) I have no doubt that the Pens can do this thing. GO PENS!

Oh... and the USA lost to Russia today... blah

Oh... and I have to study for my 5 finals this week... blah

Today hasn't really felt like a Saturday...

"Well -- that's interesting?"

2009-05-01T07:30:00.005-04:00

I don't usually dream, well, I guess the appropriate thing is to say I don't usually remember my dreams -- because, I'm told, we all dream every night. Last night I had a dream that was one of the most real I had ever had... and it was interesting? No background on this dream or anything... just that I get a text during my OT from the Pens messaging service that tells me that the Pens have traded...

Sergei Gonchar (^) for...

...Blackhawk's goalie Nikolai Khabibulin??????

Ummm.... okay? The first thing that came to my "mind" during my dream was, "I didn't know that they could do that during the playoffs..." Needless to say, I wasn't quite sure why the Pens would be trading Gonch for Khabibulin... Sure, he's a good goalie, but don't the Pens have one of those in MAF?? I followed learning this up by "running" back to my dorm room and getting online to figure what prompted this trade, and to research how they were trading players during the playoffs. Then... my alarm clock rang and I woke up.

Ah well -- it doesn't really matter because it didn't really happen, and will probably never happen. I just thought it was kind of a hilarious idea so I would share it with you.

TGIF.

**Six more days until my last day of finals and my trip back to Pennsylvania. Seven more days until Pittsburgh. WOOOOOOOO!!!!

The end is in sight!

2009-04-29T23:03:00.004-04:00

My hall had a meeting tonight to review the proper procedure for checking out... NEXT WEEK! As much as I am NOT looking forward to having to pack up all my stuff, put it in the van, and drive all the way back to Pennsylvania... I am definitely looking forward to being back! WOOOO!!!

(A view from the first rest stop you come to in PA going from Kentucky to Pennsylvania...)

I love it here at AC, but I miss the East Coast more than I ever have before -- I never realized that I loved Pennsylvania as much as I did until I left...

I'm certainly going to miss all my friends here at Asbury, we're going to be all over world for the summer, but it will definitely be good to spend time with some of my friends from home again...

However -- I can't get all excited about going home just yet... there is plenty of stuff left to be done here in Kentucky in the next week...

1. Formal. Friday night. Hhhmmm... I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this. I'm not a big fan of formals... Oh well, I suppose it will probably end up being at least semi-tolerable. haha

2. Room cleaning. Oh man. So much stuff... I don't even want to think about it.

3. Finals. Blah.
Monday -- 8am Old Testament
Tuesday -- 10:30 am Expos & Research
Wednesday -- 8am Biology
Thursday -- 8am Intro to Human Communication, 10:30 Narratives & Ideologies of Hollywood (fun how it works out that my two hardest finals are on the same day, back to back), 2:30 Check out with my RA (which means all my cleaning has to be done -- it's pretty much like a final. ha)

**I hate finals, and the Stanley Cup playoffs make that hate worse. I'm pretty sure the world should be put on hold during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Honestly, what was the NHL thinking when they scheduled Game 3 of the Pens vs. Caps on Wednesday night?? I have so much to do that night -- lots of studying & packing to do... But -- I REALLY REALLY want to go to Lexington to watch the Pens at Buffalo Wild Wings. Could it be considered a study break?? Oh -- it most certainly could be. haha. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

On a very happy lighter note: This evening I finished my last paper for the entire semester!! WOOOOO!!!!!! Very very exciting -- I even worked ahead -- it's not due until Friday. I shouldn't be that excited, I pretty much worked ahead on it because I didn't feel like studying and I knew I had to do something -- it was either study or write the paper. I wrote the paper. The studying very much still needs to be done. Blah.

I'm skipping my 9:25 Intro to Human Comm class tomorrow since everyone is just giving speeches and I already gave mine -- it could possibly be the last time I get to sleep in until well -- a long time from now... I need to relish in the moment.

Let's end this post on a SUPERBLY HAPPY NOTE:

EIGHT DAYS TILL PITTSBURGH!!!
(Hanging out with some pretty awesome people & watching the Pens in the Mellon yard= AWESOME!)

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!
(Although -- for the sake of my PGH countdown -- I'm already considering it Thursday... Oh well)

BRING. IT. ON.

2009-04-28T22:52:00.004-04:00

Eastern Conference Semi's -- Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals

This is really the match up I DID NOT want.

My brother is a Caps fan (trust me -- I do not know how that happened). I'll be back home for at least the latter half of this series, and things could get ugly. Oh well. I guess this is just something I'm going to have to get prepared for.

I was just talking to my friend B. -- she got tickets for Game 2 of the Hershey Bears vs. WBS Penguins in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. (Funny how the Caps and Pens are playing against each other in both series huh?) She's a Pens fan, but cheers for the Bears when she goes to their games since they're the "local" team. When we went to the Hershey vs. WBS game back in March we cheered for the Pens... but we cheered for the Bears at the game in December when they played against Albany.

We had to admit to each other... we have begun to grow attached to some of the Bear's players. We have to realize that eventually, they'll probably play for the Caps. Maybe we need to curb our like for them now and protect ourselves from heart break -- we can't love them now when they play for Hershey and then expect to be able to completely dislike them when they start playing in Washington. It made it worse when we got all their autographs and talked to them -- it made us like them more. We don't want to like them, because, eventually, as Pens fans, it's not going to work out... we can't really like all the players on the Caps roster... (maybe one [because maybe I will never be able to not like Karl Alzner], but not most of them)

Evidence: Simeon Varlamov.

Russian goal tending sensation who barely speaks a word of English... playing for the AHL's Hershey Bears. We first saw him play in December. What's not to like?? ... he definitely became one of our favorites. Sure -- I mentioned to my friends and my brother that he should get called up by the Caps because he's going to be awesome someday. I just didn't realize that that "someday" would be so soon. We saw him again in March. I said it again the same thing again -- "The Caps need to call him up, etc." While we were getting autographs B.'s marker wouldn't work when he was trying to sign her shirt, and then she ended up marking up his hand with it. Hilariously awkward -- especially since he doesn't speak English.

When we heard that he got called up to play for Washington we were really really excited for him -- we talked about it, I blogged about it, etc. etc. When he got that 4-0 shut out against the Rags in the playoffs -- we were excited again... He was a big part of the Caps resurgence and ultimately beating the Rags in seven.

Now...

He's going to be the one in net who's stopping Gonch's slap shots, Sid & Geno's sick moves, and Jordan's shorthanded chances...

Ugh.

It was a sort of sad realization when I mentioned that. I want the Pens to win, I want them to annihilate the Caps and their sea of fair weather fans... but... I have to realize that in order for the annihilation to happen... Varlamov is going to have to look far from impressive...

This all came about when B. told me about getting tickets to the Calder Cup playoff game -- she was wondering who she should cheer for? The team we consider our "local" club, or the AHL affiliate of our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins?? We get to see the Bears play soooo much more, so it's easy to feel a certain affinity for them -- you know all their names, you've seen them play. We only saw WBS once... and only know their names from reading about them or from when they've been up in Pittsburgh. That's the whole reason we like them at all -- because they're the AHL affiliate of our team.

Oh man... the playoffs. Honestly, despite how much I really do like a lot of the Bears players -- I have come to the realization that I really do want the WBS Pens to kick butt.

But, alas, it's the NHL match up that I truly care about. So, my three words for the Caps:

BRING. IT. ON.
(this is what I want to see in Washington a couple more times...)

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

He never stops impressing me...

2009-04-26T17:58:00.004-04:00

As soon as the Pens game was over yesterday I had to hurry and get ready for this film festival that Asbury has (all the films are made by AC students). I guess, it's a pretty big deal -- I figure since I'm not in the Media Communications or Theater/Cinema performance departments I'll never quite realize how big of a deal it is. Is it a really big deal that we had one of the co-founder's and President of Walden Media (who produced movies like: "Holes," "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," "Prince Caspian," etc. etc) speak in front of the entire campus on Friday and then proceed to spend the entire weekend here??

Hhhhmmm... I've been told it's HUGE, but I don't think I'll ever really understand. I guess I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that I might never quite understand how big Asbury is in that sense... Oh well. I'll stick to my own department. ha.

Anyway (Man, I get off topic easily)-- because of the film festival and the after-party that followed I didn't have a chance to read all of the post-game things until the morning...

While reading various articles on the Pens website, this one stuck out to me.

Especially this part where Max Talbot talks about Sid:

"It was my fault the Flyers scored that goal late in the first period ... and they turned that into a 2-0 lead after we dominated the period," Talbot said after the Penguins' series-clinching 5-3 victory over Philadelphia at Wachovia Center. "I was pretty discouraged. You could see it on my face. I'm sitting on the bench before the second period is about to start, my head down, and he comes up to me and says, 'Don't worry, Max; I'm going to get that one back for you.'

"That look in his eyes, that seriousness in his voice — I knew he would do what he said, and I knew we'd end up winning the game."

Wow... It's when I hear he says stuff like that I remember why I'm so glad he's captain of "my team." It might be because I'm completely and unashamedly a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins... which results in me pretty much loving every single player. But honestly, when you read that, no matter what team it's about... you can't help but smile. Like the title of this post says -- he really never stops impressing me. And, if I had the choice, I wouldn't pick any other current player to captain this team (even if Pierre thinks Mike Richards is really really stellar)! :)

Oh -- and I guess Sid did get that goal "back" for Max... that one that tied the game at 3 comes to mind... WOOOOO!!!

I am so ready to be done with this semester and be back in PA... Hopefully, these last two weeks will go quickly, and without to much pain... ha. Wishful thinking...

Not much you can say but...

2009-04-25T17:51:00.005-04:00

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I'll admit -- for a little while there I had my doubts, but who am I to doubt the Pens... I've seen them come back from being down 3-0 in the playoffs before... and they did it again!!! Oh man, I'm just so psyched right now... ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Thank you Max Talbot for fighting with Dan Carcillo (who NBC just informed me -- was your teammate in WBS)

Thank you MAF for making some super stellar saves.

Thank you Mark Eaton - for being from Delaware and playing in the NHL.

Thank you Gonch for being your awesome Russian self... I loved your Geno-esque fist pump!

Thank you Sid -- oh what a fantastic captain you are!

Thank you Pittsburgh Penguins!!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!

HELLO SECOND ROUND!!!!

Game 6- Penguins: 5, Flyers: 3
Series- Penguins: 4, Flyers: 2

Flyers = eliminated!

Here we go... GAME SIX

2009-04-25T09:39:00.006-04:00

So -- Game six today. I read online that Marty Biron feels like this game is going to go to 7. Oh dear, I hope not.

Sounds like Miroslav Satan will be playing instead of Petr Sykora again... and I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Hopefully Eric Godard will finally crack the line-up and perhaps he'll have the chance to beat the crap out of some of those silly Philly players... (Hartnell? Richards? Giroux? Carcillo? -- those are just a few suggestions)

So, maybe, the Pens don't have H**** anymore, and maybe, the kid spelled Fleury incorrectly, but still... I love this shirt... That's the best looking "orange crush" shirt I've ever seen...

I don't even want to think about this game... honestly...

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins: I don't have much to say today other than... win. When I penciled "Game 7 TBA" into my planner I really didn't expect for it to go that far. So, please, don't let it. End this thing today. Beat them at their own game, in front of their own fans. Thank you in advance. Love, Alexis

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

*Edit: So -- I just realized that this is my 66th post... all the more reason for the Pens to win today... :) GO PENS!

I just had to give it a try...

2009-04-24T11:41:00.003-04:00

A few people on the blogs I read have lately been creating "blingees." I finally decided that I had to give it a try...

Really, it's a lot of fun... maybe it wasn't such a good thing to find the week before finals, because, I imagine it can become pretty addicting to play around with.

Anyway... Without further ado...

And another one...

One last one...

That was a fun way to spend some time this afternoon! :) :) :)

Something pretty exciting -- in two weeks... I'll be done with the semester! WOOOO!!!

TGIF.

Ugh.

2009-04-23T22:04:00.004-04:00

I have admit -- coming into the game tonight I was psyched. I had a ride to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game, and it was 60 cent boneless wing night. Yeah -- and the Pens had a 3-1 series lead... they could clinch it tonight. AND -- I had just finished booking the hotel for PGH, which meant I was feeling super excited about that. Then -- the game... blah

There's not really much I feel like saying...

I kind of feel like I felt on Sunday. Except this time -- it's worse. Hopefully though, the Pens will respond on Saturday like they did on Tuesday. HUGE.

Satan was a ghost again... can't say I've missed seeing him since early March...

I think the game would have been different if Geno's goal would have counted, but honestly, I really do think the refs made the right call. I'm not going to stoop to the level of a Philly fan... the call was right. There was most definitely a distinct kicking motion.

I hear that FSN Pittsburgh got hit by lightning. That sucks. Sorry to all my lovely friends who missed the end of the game because of that but, honestly, you didn't really miss all that much... This might be the only time I was happy that I got relegated to watching VS.

Oh Columbus Blue Jackets -- tonight I took so much pleasure in watching you shut up the annoying Wings fans at Bdubs, but alas, I come back, check the scores, and see that you ended up losing. You'll get 'em next year... don't worry about it.

Game 5- Penguins: 0, Flyers: 3

Series- Penguins: 3, Flyers: 2

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins: I'm super busy on Monday night -- I have a lab final on Tuesday afternoon and a super huge group project presentation on Tuesday morning. This means that you better get your act together -- all of you -- and take this thing on Saturday. I know it's on NBC, I know it's in the middle of the day, but it's time to end this thing. Time to move on to the next round. I have faith in you -- I know you can do it. Put the puck in the net, score goals, win this thing. Take this thing on Saturday and I'll love you more than I already do. Thanks in advance because I'm trusting that you'll do it! Love, Alexis

One of my most favorite things...

2009-04-22T19:44:00.006-04:00

A few years back they rebuilt our library here at Asbury...

Okay, I'll admit, this isn't the best picture of our library, but you know, it's quite the sight all lit up at night... especially with the huge windows. Really though, the library here is awesome, but that's not what I'm referring to in the title of my post. Please don't misunderstand, I like the library, it's really nice actually... I'm just not in there a lot... haha... It probably has something to do with the fact that they have these really splendid brown leather chairs that are more comfortable than my bed. Anytime I sit in one of them to try and read something - bam - nap time. I might as well stay in the dorm and study... no reason to walk the entire way over there and then go to sleep...

Back on topic --

Because they built a fantastic new library the old Asbury library was left empty - in the middle of campus -- and I hear it was kind of creepy... Old empty buildings can be that way... definitely. So, finally, they decided that the old library should be turned into a student center. Inside the student center they put this fantastic design on the floor:

(Mer -- I just realized that I'm definitely sitting right on Vancouver...)
(I also just realized that you can't really see the "Russia area" in this picture, it's close to being the same color as the ocean, but trust me -- it's there)

... a map of the world...

It's awesome.

Seriously, it's one of my favorite things here on campus. I love to travel, I'd be very happy to get to visit every single place on this map. I always smile when I walk in and see that on the floor. I like to point out places I've been, and pick out places that I'd like to go.

One of the especially cool things is that there's a little circle/dot thing right where Wilmore, Kentucky is. You can easily see how small that dot is compared to the rest of the world -- even compared to the rest of the USA. Kind of, it's like a little reminder that there's so much of the world out there other than us. We're not all that there is -- there's SOOOO MUCH out there, so much that we have to experience and learn about. Ah. I love that thought. Yet, it's a thought that so many people forget about.

One of my favorite places that I've visited was South Korea -- I was all over the country in the three weeks that I was there (and my visa's good until 2011 -- I need to get back...), and I learned more about myself, my country, and our world than I ever had in school. It was incredible to get out of my comfort zone, to get out of a place where I blend in... It's a feeling unlike any other, a feeling that I love, something that I just want to experience over and over again.

(It was kind of a running joke while I was in Korea that nothing ever seemed tall enough... here's just another example of that... haha)

I treasure every international experience I've had... even the ones that were in my own country, but to a part that was totally and completely different than where I'm from... All of them taught me something different... something unique... something about myself... Having these experiences along with the experience of having two international sisters and international friends are surely experiences that will remain with me and influence me for a lifetime.

Welp... It's time to work on a paper... another paper... it's always another paper. Oh well. It's getting closer and closer to summer. Closer and closer to my trip to PGH to hang with some super cool people and watch the Pens *knock on wood* ...

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Hockey fans... in Kentucky??

2009-04-21T22:57:00.005-04:00

After a series of random talks with random people I found some fellow AC students that were planning on going to watch the Pens vs. Philly game tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lexington... It's about a twenty-five minute drive, but to watch the game... totally worth it.

I convinced my friend Ang to come along and we got there right around 7 o'clock -- I wasn't expecting there to any hockey fans there. After all, the Cincinnati Reds were playing the Chicago Cubs tonight (regular season baseball vs. playoff hockey... start the comparisons... haha). But, when we walk in I was surprised to see pretty much an entire area of the restaurant looking kind of like this...

... Detroit Red Wings fans??? In Kentucky??? Yeah -- and a whole bunch of them. Ang and I found our friends and sat down with them. We had perfect seats -- right in between the big screen showing the Pens vs. Flyers game and the big screen showing the Detroit vs. Columbus game. Because of our unmatched hate for Detroit we decided that should Columbus score we would yell... If you watched any of that game you know that the Wings put a couple on the board before the BJ's got their chance... Everytime Detroit would score that entire group would go crazy, more and more I wanted the BJ's to score, just so that I could yell.

The BJ's scored at the perfect time -- a commercial in the Pens game -- so I was intently watching the other game... when the puck went into the net one of my friends and I jumped up and yelled, "WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! COLUMBUS!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" That was it -- every head in that section turned to face us... it was like a death stare or something. The one guy kept starting at me (in my Orpik jersey), "Pittsburgh? Pittsburgh? Gentleman, she's a Pittsburgh fan." ha. I smiled and nodded my head -- but he just kept going, "Don't forget the Stanley Cup last year? And Hossa... " (I don't know why he had to bring that up... blah)

The Pens came back on and the Wings game kept on going so they pretty much left us alone, but once and awhile they would look our way and say something... and I would say something back. I wanted to talk to them in the parking lot, but Ang told me that she didn't want them to slash the tires of her car... haha... Seriously though, we were all just having fun...

I admit, it was refreshing to find other hockey fans in Kentucky, even if they were Detroit fans... haha

The Penguins game... Not their best, but it certainly got the job done... which is what they needed to do. There were a few other groups of Pens fans there (and a Crosby and a Malkin jersey), so it was definitely fun to yell with them when the Pens scored or when MAF made some huge saves. Then there was that guy in front of us... Ang and I couldn't decide whether he was a Pens fan or a Flyers fan -- he would just turn around frequently and stare at us when we talked about the Pens and the game... and after every goal except TK's would ask, "They're going to review that aren't they?"

Who knows... maybe he had had a little to much to drink or something...

All that aside... what really matters is:

Game 4- Penguins: 3, Flyers: 1

Series: Penguins: 3, Flyers: 1

GAME 5 ON THURSDAY! WOOOOO!!! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

Oh the Hershey Bears...

2009-04-21T08:00:00.004-04:00

I've written before about that night where my friends and I got all the Hershey Bears' autographs, and how fun it was, and how ever since that night I've been a fan of Karl Alzner.... But, last night, I was reminded of another Hershey Bears player that I'd cheered for all season...

Simeon Varlamov.

Back in December I went to a Bears game with my younger brother. At that game we sat right behind the goal that the Bears defended twice... thus, we got to see a lot of Simeon Varlamov. He was crazy good. I don't pride myself in my "scouting" ability at all, but that night I told my brother, "You know -- Varlamov is going to be good someday. The Caps should bring him up, I think he'll be better than Theodore." I said that, but I'm pretty sure that anyone could have said it -- it was obvious he was good.

Last night while I was working on some papers I was listening to the Boston/Montreal game, but my friend B. who had been at the Bears game with me in March sent me a chat message, "Are you watching the Caps game? Are you seeing Varlamov?

You all know the score of the Caps/NY game last night??

4-0. Varlamov recorded the shutout. In the game before the score was 1-0. Varlamov has left in one goal in over 50 shots faced in the STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS... (his first ever Stanley Cup Playoffs)

Maybe, Varlamov is getting lucky... maybe, the Caps will bring him up for good next season, and he'll absolutely stink. But maybe, he's actually a pretty splendid goalie... and he'll be solid in the net for the Caps for years to come. (It would actually be kind of a bummer if the Caps got a decent goalie... haha)

(Varlamov's autograph from the Hershey Bears' game)

I'm happy for Varlamov, pretty much the same reason I'm happy for Steve Mason. It's always great to see young players do well, especially young goalies. Like I told B. last night -- "I'll be happy for him until he starts beating the Pens." It's true... and I haven't even decided who I want to win the Caps/NYR series...

That night in Hershey when we got a bunch of autographs, Varlamov was one of the first players to come out. Like they talked about last night on the broadcast while Sean Avery was trying to trash talk him... he doesn't speak any English. He still understood the autograph thing, and was very gracious in signing for most of the people standing the parking lot. It was kind of awkward though because while he was signing everyone was really quiet, no one was saying anything. haha. When he signed my tshirt I looked him in the eye and said, "Thank you." He smiled and said in quiet, very-accented English, "You're welcome." :)

Just more and more examples of how great the Bears' players were that night...

CONGRATS ON YOUR SHUTOUT SIMEON VARLAMOV! :)

The Pens play tonight... Game 4 in Philly... I don't need to say much about the potential importance of this game, it's HUGE!

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

Something a little more upbeat...

2009-04-20T15:10:00.005-04:00

I found something positive that happened yesterday...

Last night was the gold medal game in the World U-18 tournament, where the US was facing off against Russia. Team USA won the gold medal convincingly -- 5-0.

Interestingly enough... this was the first ice hockey gold medal that the USA has won on American soil since the 1980 Winter Olympics. Does anyone know what I'm thinking right now?...

Buffalo, NY...

The 2011 WJC's...

Hhhhmmmm.... it could happen... (And, I'm definitely planning on being there for it!)

I have six papers, one group presentation, and six finals before the end of the semester... all of that lovely stuff in 17 hectic days. Last night I put sticky notes on my desk for everything I have left to do (other than studying), that way, whenever I finish something I can remove the sticky note and think about how happy I am that I'm that much closer to summer vacation...

Speaking of those six papers -- I think it's about time that I get off blogger and start trying to remove some off that list... At least one will be removed this afternoon (unless I decide to take a nap...)

Dear BJs: I'm pulling for you guys tonight. Come on. You can do this thing... First playoff game at home... You can do it, I know you can! Love, Alexis

*Edit: For some reason I thought the Blue Jackets played tonight... I even had it in my planner, which I obviously neglected to open... Oh well, my message still stands for tomorrow night, when I'll also be pulling for a certain team from PGH.

Trying to find positivity in a rotten day...

2009-04-19T17:51:00.002-04:00

Well -- I guess I better sum up what happened in the Pens game today...

"It sucked."

Thinking positively, since that's what I pledged to do in the title of this post...

* Geno scored two goals. Last year he was pretty dead in the playoffs... this year, obviously, not so much...

* The Wachovia Center has this on the ice...

...and I love the American Red Cross. So, even though despise the Flyers and their building... umm.... I think it's cool that they advertise for the American Red Cross?

* The season premier of "In Plain Sight" is on tonight. I love that show.

* "House" is on next. I love "House."

* I had tin roof sundae ice cream for dessert at lunch...

Okay, I've really run out of positive things. I have a killer headache, and the stupid Heineken commercial where all the people are screaming made it worse. The NBC announcers have some weird love for Mike Richards. Yesterday I was out in the sun doing the challenge course at training and I got sunburn. It's raining and while walking out to the parking lot to get the car to go to church my pants go soaked in water up to my knees -- and proceeded to be cold and wet for the rest of the morning. The big MSC choir festival is at SCA this weekend, and I'm not home to see it. My laundry basket is overflowing. I have an OT paper to write, and I have nothing to say about the topic. I need to find a source about Katie Couric for a group project.

And...

Game 3: Penguins - 3, Flyers - 6

Series: Penguins - 2, Flyers - 1

As you can see -- the negatives have far outweighed the positives... Well, at least I tried right?

Tuesday better be quite TERRIFIC -- It could be... there are some potential positives... I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

Because I will always love them, no matter what, I must end this with a --

GO PENS!!!!!!!!

...

2009-04-17T23:57:00.004-04:00

This fall I'm going to be an orientation leader for the incoming AC freshman... I am VERY excited about this, however... I wasn't tonight. We had a big meeting thing from six until after ten. I always get goal text updates on my phone from ESPN Mobile (about the only thing ESPN is good for regarding hockey), but my Dad was also texting me about other parts of the game... Especially enlightening were the texts that read, "Zamboni." "Zamboni." "Zamboni." during intermission.

Anyway, I was dying... pretty much during the entire game... I couldn't concentrate on anything my boss was saying, I just sat there, looking at my cell phone. When Geno scored to tie it up at 2 I pretty much jumped out of my seat... I just started smiling and smiling... my boss, well, she kind of looked at me funny... oh well. (I'm sure she's read in my application under 'interests' that I love the Pens -- I don't really hide the fact -- she should figure it out...)

The meeting went on and on and on and on, and I knew the game was in OT -- all I could think about was Game 5 of the SCF last year... this meeting is continued at 8 am tomorrow morning, so I was hoping this OT didn't go quite that long. Anyway, I just waited and waited... Then I got one of the most beautiful messages ever, "5-3 for the Pens." This was it. They had to do it... Finally, a few minutes later, my cell phone vibrates, my heart stops, I open the message and it reads, "It's over. Guerin."

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just jumped up and down and hugged (yeah -- I know... hugged) a whole bunch of people. haha. I can't even imagine what it was like to be at this game -- OT in a playoff game... against the Flyers... electric probably doesn't even begin to describe it.

HUGE WIN. HUGE HUGE WIN.

Game 2 - PENGUINS: 3, FLYERS: 2 OT

Series - PENGUINS: 2, FLYERS: 0

I can't wait until Sunday... it's going to be CRAZY!! LETS GO PENS!!

Indeed.

2009-04-15T21:49:00.004-04:00

Game 1: Penguins - 4, Flyers - 1

Series: Penguins - 1, Flyers - 0

HAPPY WEDNESDAY INDEED!!!!!!

Stars:

3. Sidney Crosby
2. Marc-Andre Fleury
1. Jordan Staal

So... is it crazy that I'm already feeling nervous for Friday's game?? I'm going to have to miss it... not cool. I'm going to end up being glued to my cell phone for text updates...

It's WEDNESDAY!

2009-04-15T11:42:00.005-04:00

It is Wednesday... It is April 15th... which means...

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS BEGIN TONIGHT!!!!!!!

Maybe we should treat all Flyers fans like this... What do you think?

(You can check out more of The Pensblog's excellent work... here)

I've been working hard since I got back to campus on Monday evening to print out the above picture and paste it around my dorm room and mail it to poor unsuspecting Flyers fans... I even have it set as the background on my cell phone. It is definitely most appropriate, but I did wonder whether or not the "can" should be changed to "will"....

I have one small request for dear Baby Kunitz who it seems will enter the world today -- COME SOON... before two or three maybe?? Back in early March (??) when Chris Kunitz was on Inside Penguin's hockey he mentioned that his wife was expecting their first child in April... I remember thinking then, something to the extent of, "April?!?! That's playoff season... the baby better not come on a gameday!" haha.

Normally, I would close out any post that goes up on a Wednesday with a "Happy Wednesday," but today I feel it's appropriate to wait until say... maybe 10pm to decide whether or not today deserves a "Happy Wednesday." We all know what that's dependent on...

Despite the gross weather outside here in KY... I am feeling quite positively about today becoming a "Happy Wednesday," but I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

So -- until then:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

...22 days until the end of the semester...

Annoying...

2009-04-14T14:48:00.003-04:00

Flyers fans are some of the most annoying people to ever grace planet earth...

Yep. That's pretty much sums up all I have to say here.

Prior to a series against a team like Philly where I know a lot of their fans I always wonder how much "smack-talking" is "appropriate"... Of course, if the Pens win, then any "smack-talking" I did was fine, because my team won. BUT, (Man -- I don't even like to think of this scenario, but we have to be realistic) if the Pens wouldn't end up winning the series, I'm going to have to take a ton of crap back, and I, like any decent person, likes to be on the winning side of things, and hates losing.

I guess it comes down to -- I have to be willing to receive back as much crap as I give... hhhhmmmm...

My poor facebook status has been overtaken by Philadelphia fans... it really is a pity... I really did consider deleting their comments because they make me annoyed just seeing them...

Maybe it's a good thing I'm here in Kentucky and not back in PA to deal with the brunt of Philly fans that exist in the general area of my hometown... Right now, I annoyed to the point of, if a Philly fan was to walk up to me right now and talk to me face to face, I might physically harm them. Blah, I hate this feeling, but I'm being completely honest here... (That said -- I'm going to have to stay away from the Philly fan on campus -- for her own good...)

If you haven't seen it already -- go on over to The Pensblog and check out their incredible banner... www.thepensblog.com -- go ahead... go... incredible huh?? It makes me smile everytime I see it.

I'm so ready for round 1 to start... so that the Penguins can start doing their thing and the Philly fans will get quieter and quieter, until, they finally have to admit that that team from the Western part of the state was superior once again....

WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

GO PENS!!!!!

Several things... (Ok, more like 10)

2009-04-13T07:57:00.003-04:00

1. I' m going back to Kentucky today... Every time I'm here I remember how much I love the East Coast. It's not that I loathe the South, but the East Coast is just... superior?? Oh, and Kentucky has become synonymous with school work... where's the fun in that?

2. The Penguins clinched home ice in the first round... I'm still not sure that I believe it. Way back in February, I'm pretty sure that I might have thought this to be impossible. I think I was willing to have a first round match up with Boston, just as long as the Pens would make it. Words cannot express how I feel about this, just...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins: First round playoff match up vs. Philly. You guys can do this thing... I mean, honestly, two months ago you were at 10th place in the conference and you fought back and now have home ice in round one. I'd really appreciate it if you're still in the playoffs around May 7. Why? Because that's when I come home to PA, and I have a splendid trip planned to go and watch you on the big screen if you're still in it then. You have to be... seriously, you have to be. Destroy Philly these next couple of games, because I would like nothing more than to rub defeat in the faces of some friends of mine. Thanks so so so so much! Love, Ali

3. I love Dan Bylsma's suits... and Tom Fitzgerald's aren't to shabby either...

4. I have a feeling that going to school will have to take a backseat to the playoff's... obviously...

5. Detroit vs. Columbus in Rd.1 -- Wow. That's going to be a series. For awhile I was torn in my quest to choose a favorite Western Conference team. Chicago? Columbus? Well... I find it only fair that as a resident of Kentucky, and live closest to Columbus that they should be my pick. That, among other things and other people (you know who you are) sealed the deal. Now, my favorite Western Conference team with the rookie goal tending sensation, Steve Mason, have the possibility to knock out my most despised Western Conference foe.

Dear Steve Mason (re: Columbus Blue Jackets), I have found a special place for you in my heart, right around where I have a place for the Baltimore Orioles, but I'm pretty sure your space is bigger because you're related to hockey. :) I will probably never love you as much as I love the Penguins (if I did -- it would be unhealthy, and I would never get anything done), but I think you're stellar anyway. I would really really really appreciate it if you took care of this Detroit team in the first round... annihilate them. Embarrass them. Whatever you want. Do it. Thank you so much! Love, Ali

6. I'm planning on wearing my Pittsburgh Penguins jersey (or t shirt, depending on the weather, and if I'm doing something that I might get dirty) on the day of every single Pens playoff game. I can't grow a beard, so I have to do something...

7. I'm going to need to take Pastor Steve up on his offer to come to his house to watch hockey games if the Pens make it to games that are only televised on VS. (I hate VS.) ... better yet, Pastor Steve loves the Wings... He'll probably be upset when the Jackets get rid of them in the first round... Oh well.

8. I finished the first draft of my story -- a lovely 18 pages. Almost the perfect spot between 15-25. I'm going to work on revising it on the way back today... for as long as my computer battery survives.

9. I'm eating a burrito from Chipotle for lunch. I've been craving a Chipotle burrito since December and have yet to get one. Today is the day!!! WOOOOO!!!

10. The next time I come home to Pennsylvania it will be:

SUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

NO TITLE NEEDED...

2009-04-08T00:26:00.004-04:00

I'm not a big fan of posting twice in one day (although -- technically, it's now Wednesday in the EST), but this deserves it's own special post...

THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

**Ali jumps up and down and begins to do happy "dance"**

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There were times in December/January/February that I thought maybe this wouldn't happen. But alas, you've clinched that playoff spot, and have made yourselves into a team that no one really wants to face in the first round. I love you all, and thanks again.
Love, Ali

INDEED TODAY DESERVES A VERY...

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Hhhhmmm... I wonder...

2009-04-07T18:47:00.005-04:00

... Why have some grocery stores starting placing stamps on their eggs??

You can't really see it in this picture, but the egg has a stamp on it... Why?? If it gets lost am I supposed to read the stamp and return it to the grocery store?? Blah... I guess somethings I'll never understand.

...When will I get tired of eating oranges?

I've written about this before. Even my friends are starting to wonder... I've already had two oranges today -- two at lunch, and two at dinner, and I have two sitting on my desk to eat if I get hungry tonight while I'm watching the Pens game or studying for my OT exam tomorrow.

...Why did it snow in Kentucky today?

Enough said about that one... It's weird. It snowed today, tomorrow it's supposed to be 56F. Weird.

...When will Petr Sykora finally score that elusive goal??

It's been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long since Sykie last scored a goal... I can't even remember the last time. He's long due... long long over due. Tonight should be the night. Do it Petr... DO IT!

...Will Geno be able to hold on to the scoring lead for another five days?

Oh man, I hope so.... It's been his all season long, and it would be a huge pity for him to lose it now. You know how Sykie is going to score a goal or two tonight??? How about Geno get assists on those, and add some goals of his own. Perfect.

...Will the Pens finally be able to secure a playoff spot tonight against Tampa Bay??

The picture above is of a group of Pens fan at Game 2 of the SCF last year in Detroit... what an absolutely beautiful picture...

... When will I finally finish that short story that's been a pain in my side lately??

11 pages down, at least four more to go... I figure sometime over the 8 hour drive back to Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon would be a good time, but that's only if my computer battery can survive. My computer battery is a piece of crap.

... How well am I'm going to do on my OT exam tomorrow at 2 o'clock??

Well... I'll let you know after I study, after the Pens game... The only benefit of baseball season is that the majority of it takes place in the summer, when there is no school work... Blah.

Enough wondering... I'm off to watch the Pens game vs. Tampa Bay... Tonight is HUGE...

Dear Pittsburgh Penguins: Please win tonight... Please please please please please. Thank you. Love, Alexis.

Kentucky Weather = a thorn in my side!!!

2009-04-06T14:05:00.003-04:00

I love cold weather. I love it when it's bitterly cold and I can bundle up in one of my many winter coats, with a scarf, a hat, and a pair of gloves. I love it when it's to cold to snow, and the wind burns your face. I love it when it's that perfect cold temperature. The perfect cold temperature for snow. It falls from the sky and there are piles and piles of it... It's beautiful!

I don't know why I love the cold so much... but it might have something to do everything that goes along with the cold and the snow... You can go skiing, sledding, ice skating (outside!), and all the other awesome winter sports... And, the majority of hockey season is in winter... The cold weather also signals Christmas which means a break from school. I'd much rather have my break in the winter than in the summer...

Believe when I say that I did not come to Kentucky for school as an escape from the cold weather that haunts us in Pennsylvania. I love that weather... and well... the Kentucky weather is a thorn in my side...

Let's take this past weekend as an example...

Friday: The morning was probably around 50F, windy, and raining... By the afternoon it was nice, and then in the evening it stormed again...

Saturday: Even though I love cold weather the most, I can appreciate the warm days, and Saturday was absolutely beautiful... 70F and perfectly sunny...

Sunday (yesterday): Again... most people would define this as the perfect day. It was sunny, 75F ish, not a cloud in the sky... Most people ended up on the roof of the dorm to work on their tan, and most people ended up burnt. However, last evening it got very windy and started to storm... Just like that... Presto: tornado warning. Lovely.

Today: 30F (that's below freezing...), windy, rainy, with a chance of snow...

The forecast for tomorrow is about the same as today, except that we're supposed to accumulate an inch or two of "slush" over night... lovely...

This picture was taken in the parking lot the day I left KY to go back to PA for Spring Break. There wasn't snow any where else on our 8 hour drive back... Just in Kentucky... Just in Wilmore... It had been 75F two days prior to this...

I started off with that stuff about my love of cold weather because I wanted to make the point that it's not the cold weather that makes me angry, it's the fact that the Kentucky weather changes so drastically over such a short period of time. I never know if it's the type of weather for a t shirt and a light sweater, a t shirt and a light jacket, a hoodie, or my winter coat with gloves...

Then again, when I finally do decide what kind of clothing I should be wearing to be appropriate for the weather -- it's KY, and it will probably change by dinner time so I should just be prepared to have to change...

Blah... Someday I plan on moving someplace where it's beautiful winter about 9 months out of the year... perfect...

Many Musings...

2009-04-04T13:33:00.005-04:00

If you follow the hockey "world" at all, you've probably read about the recent tragic death of the Carly Bragnola, the 27 year old fiancee of Vancouver Canuks winger Taylor Pyatt. This organization has been through so much in the last year... About ten months ago, on May 29th, Canucks defenseman, Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident near his home in New Brunswick.

The hockey world is small, and pretty close-knit... and when someone dies the entire community feels the pain. I honestly don't follow the Western Conference all that closely, especially the teams that are as far West as BC... but, Luc Bourdon's death hit so much closer to home when I watched his good friend, and Pittsburgh Penguin's defenseman, Kris Letang, give a press conference after his death... and now another Canuks team member has lost someone close to them...

My thoughts and prayers are definitely with the Canuks organization and the Pyatt and Bragnola families as they go through this difficult time.

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I was on facebook earlier this morning and I happened upon my lovely friend B.'s profile. I don't think I had ever even looked at her profile before... she had this one quote by C.S. Lewis on her page to sum up her relationship with Jesus Christ:

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Wow. I love this quote... so perfectly, and incredibly true.

It's time for me to write a paper... or two... or three... surprise surprise... I hope you all have a swell weekend. I don't how the weather is elsewhere, but here in Kentucky it's absolutely gorgeous outside... go out and enjoy it! :)

What are the chances???

2009-04-02T16:43:00.004-04:00

I've talked before about how cool I think giving blood is, and how I give whenever I can... (I try to give every 8 or so weeks)... I'm still not big on needles and I usually have to really psych myself up to give blood, but after I get started, I'm fine. It doesn't make sense to me why perfectly healthy people can't give up an hour or so of their time and give a pint of their blood -- just like that you can save up to three lives. How cool is that? This morning -- I (indirectly) saved three people's lives... In my opinion... that's pretty cool.

Other than getting to save people's lives, which is enough motivation to give blood, they usually give you something free... I have some t shirts, a scarf, and a blanket. Normally, the American Red Cross has a lot cooler stuff than Kentucky Blood Center, but today's KBC shirt is pretty cool... I couldn't find a picture of it, but I'll put one up sometime...

One of my favorite parts about giving blood with the American Red Cross is getting the sticker that says, "Be nice to me. I gave blood today." Honestly, that's one of the coolest stickers that I have ever gotten the chance to wear. Haha. Sad thing is, Kentucky Blood Center does not give such stickers, but they do tell you you have to wear the blue tape they put on your arm for the next six hours or so... lovely.

So today I got up early to go give blood because I didn't really want to have to wait in a line because they get backed up pretty quickly. I had to wake up even earlier so that I could go eat breakfast. I was still pretty excited about the Pens absolute smashing of the Devils last night that I decided to wear my 2008 Eastern Conference Champions t shirt today...

I'm not going to belabor on in this story about what it's like to give blood, if you don't know, go and give blood and you'll find out.... or you can ask me, and I'll belabor on to you personally. As I sit down on the table thing I can tell that the one phlebotomist is reading my shirt. Okay, no problem. Shirts are meant to be read. So, I'm sitting there (giving blood takes awhile...) and that same phlebotomist guy walks over and asks me, "So... are you a Penguins fan?" People read my shirts all the time, and ask that... no biggy... especially not in Kentucky. When I reply "yes" they usually follow it up with an "Oh. I've been to a Blue Jackets game once." (Why people who've been to a Blue Jackets game once in their life bring it up to a perfect stranger when I'm wearing a Pens shirt... I don't know... but it's really fine with me)

I told him "Yeah -- I love the Penguins." He followed that up with, "Are you from Pittsburgh?" That question always comes next... "Nope, but I'm from Pennsylvania... Are you a Penguins fan?" He nodded, "Yeah -- I'm from Pittsburgh, I'm a Pens fan."

I usually try to be carefull when people tell me that their a Pens fan, because just because they consider themselves fans doesn't mean that they're like me... a lot of people edge more on casual fandom... I told him that I have Game Center Live on NHL.com so that I can watch the games here in Kentucky (see -- this is a good way to see what kind of fan the person is -- casual fans have no idea why I would need such service) Then he told, "Oh... that's awesome, I have Center Ice on cable so that I can watch every game."

He truly was a Pens fan -- one that watches every game... even after being located in Kentucky... This conversation was starting to make my day.

We went on to talk about the Pens absolute smashing of the Devils last night, and how the Pens are getting hot at the right time... with the playoffs coming up and everything... etc. etc. As I left we exchanged most awesome "Go Pens!" cheers...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! It was just completely awesome that I got to talk to a "real" Pens fan. What are the chances that I find a Pittsburgh(er) who actually really really really likes the Penguins and can discuss them in Wilmore, Kentucky... taking my blood at a Kentucky Blood Center blood drive???

Giving blood and having a conversation with a Pens fan in Kentucky on the same day --

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On another note -- I'm going to go take off that horrid blue tape that they make you wear for hours and hours after you get your blood taken.... finally.

Oranges and other random fruit ramblings...

2009-04-01T14:11:00.005-04:00

I'm addicted to oranges. I have been ever since I got back from spring break... yeah, I know, it's only been about a week and half, but I've eaten more oranges in the last two weeks than I have in my entire life combined.

I've never eaten a lot of oranges, just because they're hard to peal, and they're messy, but lately.... I just can't get enough of them. I take them from the cafeteria back to my room and a buy them in the Grille for a late night snack! :)

I have an orange sitting on my desk to eat right after I'm done writing this... random again... I know I know... I just can never come up with anything decent to blog. I tried to search for some pertinent information to post here regarding oranges... I came up with two things... Well, okay, they're not really pertinent, but anyway...

American Comedian Fred Allen said, "California is a fine place to live - if you happen to be an orange." HA HA. Okay, I admit, being from the East Coast I just have something against the state of California... there's just something about it that makes me go, "ugh." Please don't misunderstand, it's really beautiful out there, and I know some great people from CA, but I just don't like it... Oh well... maybe that's why I find this quote so funny.

Random Orange fact: Oranges are the largest citrus crop in the world. In the U.S., oranges are the fourth most popular fruit while orange juice is the most popular juice.

Hhhhmmm.... I would have imagined that oranges were a more popular fruit. Seriously... what is more popular than an orange? Apples? Bananas? Grapes? Okay -- so, if I had to pick the three fruits that are ahead of popularity of oranges those are what I would go with -- apples, bananas, and grapes. It has to be...

I wish they had grapes in the cafeteria... I love grapes.

Orange juice? Hhhhmmm... that's not my favorite, but I definitely can imagine that it's the most popular, but I'd imagine that apple comes up a close second... my favorite juice is cranberry pomegranate. Oh man... I could really drink some of that right now! WOOOOO!!!

This blog was certainly a dumb one. My apologies.

The Pens play Jersey tonight... Jersey's another one of those states that fall in my bottom five... like California. There's no reason for me to start ranting about that... My "least favorite states" is another blog for another time...

GO PENS!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Haha.

2009-03-30T20:51:00.013-04:00

I'm procrastinating again. What's new? On the procrastination list this evening is a biology test, a communications speech about Anne of Green Gables, and that dreaded short story... In regards to that short story... I still only have 8 pages done. It was impressive when I wrote that a couple days ago, but it's not longer impressive. It's going to get put on the back burner until my bio test is over. Oh well. I'll work on it Thursday while I'm waiting in line to donate blood.

This post isn't about procrastinating (aren't you thankful?) ... so I'll get on with the point... A friend of mine from school posted these "Baby Do's and Don't s" on his facebook the other day, and I found some of them pretty funny, so I decided to post my favorite ones. ENJOY!

Haha.

Maybe these made you laugh a little bit... and maybe they made your Monday a little less... Monday-esque. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Oh Bemidji!

2009-03-29T22:37:00.005-04:00

So -- if you follow my facebook or twitter updates you know that I've pretty much spent my entire evening watching the NCAA Div. 1 college hockey divisional finals. The first game I watched was between Boston University and the University of New Hampshire. Great game, two great teams, and it went down right until the end... The game ended with BU winning 2-1 -- they're headed to the Frozen Four in DC in two weeks...

But -- it's the second game that was CRAZY. The Bemidji State Beavers from Bemidiji, Minnesota (it's in North Minnesota -- about 100 miles from the border with Canada) ... go and beat Cornell 4-1. Wow. Bemidji came into their region as the 4th seed, but were the overall 16th seed in the tournament. They wouldn't have normally gotten a tournament berth, but they won their conference (which is pretty weak -- according to the ESPN U announcers, I do not at all consider myself a college hockey expert -- nowhere close), and got the conference's one automatic berth. Bemidji state would have been ranked the equivalent of an NCAA D.1 basketball team ranked #68.... Wow.

Yeah, they beat Cornell tonight to earn a trip to DC, but last night they beat the number two team in the country, and the number one team in their region -- Notre Dame -- 5-1. Wow. Wow. Wow. Their win against Notre Dame was their first NCAA D. 1 tournament victory -- EVER.

The school's pretty small ( around 5000 students), and even their hockey players don't boast a lot of size, but these guys can play... They'll play another four seed, University of Miami (OH) in the Frozen Four semi's on April 9th -- win that one and they'll face either Vermont or Boston University.

I don't have the opportunity to watch (but I do read about it, and see some youtube clips) a lot of D.1 college hockey, not in Kentucky, and not really even in Pennsylvania. The reason I really started watching this weekend was to watch some of the guys that had played on TEAM USA's World Junior team back in December/January.... I was incredibly impressed... and on April 11th I'll be flipping back and forth between the Pens game and the national championship game.

I won't be able to watch the semi's on April 9th because I'll be on the road back to PA, but after tonight, I'm certainly pulling for the Bemidji State Beavers -- what they did tonight is unparalleled in D.1 college hockey history (once again that's according to the ESPN U announcers...).

A Bemidji State fan held up a poster that read:

"Players Believed."
"Fans Believed."
"College hockey didn't."
"Bemidji State Beavers!!!!!!!"

I'll second what the announcers were saying regarding this poster, "Well, college hockey should really start believing now."

From this Pennsylvania hockey fan in Kentucky --

BEST OF LUCK BEMIDJI STATE!!!!

**If you're not doing anything pressing on April 9th or 11th you should definitely consider watching the Frozen Four... On the 9th the games will be on ESPN 2, and on the 11th the Championship game will be on ESPN (Yeah - I know, hockey on ESPN, I'm shocked too....) It will definitely be worth your time! :)

"Frozen Four" and other related hockey ramblings...

2009-03-27T14:25:00.009-04:00

I want to go and watch the NCAA Frozen Four... it's as plain and simple as that... I've been reading all along that it's being played at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (A mere hour and a half from my house, unless you take the metro... which makes it more like 3 hours) All along I thought that I would be in Kentucky during this glorious college hockey showdown, but alas, today, I realized that I would be home on Easter break during the Frozen Four. So, now, I REALY want to go. Hhhhhmmmmm.... Unfortunately, this won't be a reality. (The tickets ARE sold out, but they are available other places...) Even though I REALLY do want to go and watch some of what I'm sure would be incredible college hockey, the National Championship game takes place on the same day, and at the same time as something else...

...The Pittsburgh Penguins last regular season game against the Montreal Canadiens (which at this point, could still be a game for their playoff lives, but I hope it doesn't come down to that). Someone would be hard pressed to get me up off my living room couch for that Saturday evening. I can't believe that the Pens last regular season game is so soon -- two weeks from tomorrow. Yikes. I'm pretty I can still find remnants of the poster I made during August that counted down the days until the start of training camp.

...Kind of on the same topic... I realized that my NHL Game Centre Live subscription on NHL.com expires following the end of the regular season. I am yet again faced with the dilemma of finding a way to watch the Pens (that is of course, assuming, that they make the playoffs). I'm pretty sure it's an option to by a play-off package, but if I'm going to be continuously blacked out by games being aired on Versus, and NHL-Network, then that's not really a good option. My pastor at church (who happens to be a HUGE Detroit Red Wings fan -- even though he's from Alberta) has offered to let me watch the Pens at his house if for some reason I can't watch them at school... I haven't taken him up on his offer... yet. I'm pretty sure I might need to become real familiar with the road to his house pretty soon... I guess I"ll just have to wait and see...

Today I'm wearing my pretty cool "USA Hockey" zip up hoodie. I'm a big fan of this hoodie and wear it whenever I can. (But it's white, so I pretty much ALWAYS end up getting it dirty) I've decided that the next hockey jersey I purchase or request as a gift will be a USA Hockey jersey. I really want one... preferably a vintage style one because, I'm not a huge fan of the current jersey style... it's okay, but the vintage ones are so much better...

1980 US Olympic style -- as available on usahockey.com :

1991 USA hockey jersey -- available on ebay:

While looking on ebay for USA hockey jerseys -- I found this shirt... It's... ummm.... interesting... ??????

America's own Uncle Sam wants me to cheer for the Penguins??? Ha. Interesting shirt idea. Even better -- you can get it personalized with ANY sports team that you want! But it was some of the other options shown that kind of made me laugh:

Just the fact that it's Uncle Sam... encouraging me to cheer for one of, if not the most storied Canadian team in the NHL is kind of funny... you have to admit...

You could always get the one with Uncle Sam encouraging you to cheer for the NHL team located in the capital of Canada...

It might just be me, but I hope that "Uncle Sam" has more important issues to worry about then what NHL team I choose to cheer for...

Thank goodness it's FRIDAY! HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS!

Because it's been two days since I last posted! (What an awful reason)

2009-03-26T20:19:00.004-04:00

This post will once again be littered with various random ideas that flow through my mind on a daily basis. ha. When I put the word "random" in my blog title I didn't realize just how true it really was... maybe starting this blog was an epiphany of my randomness.

So -- I've been looking to pick my classes for the fall semester, and I'm pretty sure I have some decently exciting ones picked out. My foreseen highlight of the semester? Journalism Practicum. haha. Pretty much that class entails me writing for the Asbury College newspaper -- The Collegian. I have no idea what they'll be having me write about, but I figure I should have the opportunity to enlighten my lovely Kentucky friends on the topic of ice hockey. AC needs to be more diverse -- learning about hockey is a perfect way to start. (Especially since I think there are three hockey fans on campus)

The rest of my schedule (hopefully -- if I get in to all of them, and if my advisor approves):

MWF:
9:00-9:50 - JRN 211, Journalism & Culture
11:00-11:50 - PED 100, Theory of Wellness (only on Mondays! WOO!)
2:00-2:50 - ENG 205, Western Classics
3:00-3:50 - COM 281, Public Relations Theory and Practice
4:00-4:50 - FRN 101, Basic French

Tu/Th
8:00-9:15 - MAT 120, Concepts of Math and Technology (my forseens "thorn in side" class)
2:10-3:25 - JRN 212, Journalism Practicum (only on Tuesdays)

^^ OH YEAH! Looks like fun huh??

The highlight of my week so far: my Sports Illustrated magazine came with a pair of 3D glasses, and about ten pages of 3D viewing. Oh yeah. The 3D pictures included a shot from a North Carolina vs. Wake Forest men's basketball game, a shot from the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Cowboy Invitation in St. Louis, a shot of some monster truck rally, and a shot from a St. Louis Blues vs. San Jose Sharks game.

There is also three ads that include really big hamburgers... I guess, who doesn't want to see hamburgers in 3D in their Sports Illustrated magazine?

But, the biggest of all highlights involved in this 10 page 3D section was the 3D glasses themselves. The fine print on the glasses reads: "Warning: not for extended wear, performing physical activity, driving, or operating machinery. These are not sunglasses." Ahhhh.... so lovely! My roomie and I decided that it would be a good excuse to a police officer following getting pulled over for swerving, "I'm not drunk sir, I'm wearing 3D glasses!!!" Yeah. That'll work. Sure. Follow that up with, "Because of the 3D glasses there were four lanes." Yep. There's certainly not a ticket (or an arrest for that matter) in your future. Ha.

Enough random for today -- I need to get back to watching the NY Rangers vs. ATL Thrashers and MTL vs. TB... I really wish that I wasn't in the FSN-Ohio viewing area because I'd really like to be able to watch what looks like a complete killing of the Flames by the Blue Jackets. Oh well. Best of luck Mr. Steve Mason! Plus, I should probably finished at least one paper before the Duke vs. Villanova sweet sixteen game.... I'm a Sports Management minor so all this sports watching is actually pretty logical for my education right?? Right.

*** incase you were wondering (which you probably weren't) ... I'm on page 8 of my short story... WOOOOOOOO!!!! Only seven more pages to go.... WOOOOOOOO!!!!

My blog is pretty boring...

2009-03-24T14:16:00.003-04:00

Yep. That's the truth. I think I've written one decent entry lately, and that was last Sunday after the Hershey Bears game. Every post since then has stunk. Oh well.

I'm procrastinating on several things right now as I sit here writing another "pretty boring" blog... It's really becoming an art of mine, but I'm pretty sure I've discussed that on an earlier post...

1. Baby Bio quiz tomorrow -- Why does everyone here at AC call it Baby Bio?!?! Probably has something to do with the fact that it fulfills the Gen Ed. requirement for science, because it certainly has nothing to do with babies. Although, I'm pretty sure that a biology class about babies would be a lot more interesting. So, anyway, I haven't started studying yet. Although, I must say that I am pretty proud that I read all the chapters in the book on my way back to Kentucky on Sunday... at least that makes me feel better.

2. Bio lab in umm.... 60 minutes ish. I need to read the lab prior to going to lab. So I know what we're supposed to be doing. Let's see... I'll crack it open and let you in on what I'll be doing today... "Lab 10: Patterns in Nature" Ummm... sounds interesting?? Best thing is -- next week we start frog dissections! WOOO!!

**Side note about bio lab -- one thing that always makes me excited about bio lab is the fact that on the front of my bio lab notebook I have a picture of Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury from the Stanley Cup final last year against Detroit. The picture came in Sports Illustrated's "Best sports photos of 2008" edition... it was a picture of a Detroit player (I don't remember who exactly) scoring on Fleury... fortunately, using my mad skills (and a pair of scissors), I cut the Detroit player off the picture, and now it looks great! :) I'm pretty sure that my bio lab instructo,r Dr. C, comes and talks to me about the Nashville Predators in pretty much every lab when he sees my notebook. We've had the same discussion several times... oh well... I'm willing to keep having that same discussion...

3. Writing my 15 page "short story" for COM 221. The short story assignment is the thorn in my side. I can't write decent ficition if my life depended on it. So far my story is 2.2 pages long and awful. It's just not fair -- I love to read fiction and I'm a pretty decent writer when it comes to papers. I have no trouble writing 15 pages on the work of women in the American Civil War, but I can't write this story. I have zero decent ideas. It just doesn't flow out of me. My friend S. suggested that there be a murder in the story because that would make it exciting. Maybe that's what will have to happen. Ugh. The entire assignment really frustrates me.

Hhhhhmmm.... is that really all I'm "not" doing right now??? Hhhhmmmm.... looks like I'm doing pretty well then actually. haha. Good stuff.

You know -- I have break again for Easter in a mere 16 days. 16 days. I can make it. Let's see... that's only 1 quiz, 2 tests, 1 speech, 5 papers, and a 15 page short story away! Oh yeah -- I can definitely make it.

But those 16 days also mean that the end of the regular NHL season is quickly approaching. The Pens last game is that Saturday of my break... in Montreal. At least I'll be able to sit at home and watch the game on lovely FSN Pittsburgh. I guess, in reality, the Pens season can really still come down to that game. They're in sixth now, only one point behind fifth place Carolina. Honestly, I guess, the Pens playoff hopes are far from secure. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I hate waiting.

I guess it's time to read my biology lab.... or go and read about the Sweet Sixteen games for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament... either one... or maybe both... haha...

Hhhhmmmm...

2009-03-21T16:37:00.004-04:00

I don't know what I think about Alexander Ovechkin's recent goal celebration after scoring his 50th goal of the season... I've read what a lot of the blogs have had to say, and what the hockey analysts are saying about it... I've even discussed it with people, but I still don't know what I think...

I was reading Puck Daddy's blog over on Yahoo! and read this quote by Tampa goalie Mike Mckenna on whom the 50th goal was scored, regarding the event,

"It's not something I've never seen on the NHL level," McKenna said. "I'm a traditionalist when it comes to hockey. I appreciate guys who play the game hard and are humble. Alex is always exciting to watch and he's great for the game, but it's not something I would have done. When I saved his breakaway I could have done a spin move or something, but I didn't."

So, I still don't know what I think about it -- Ovechkin is super talented, and is, obviously, great for the sport of hockey. Was that goal celebration the "right" thing to do?? Well, it's not really up to me to decide. It's what he did -- and it's done. But, I do have to say, if Mike McKenna would have done a spin move or something when he saved a breakaway chance on Ovie I would have probably laughed hard enough to fall out of my desk chair. That would have been priceless.

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

2009-03-18T19:10:00.006-04:00

The Pens game last night was fantastic!

It was pretty exciting to see Geno get his 100th point of the season, and to have a five point night... The chants of "GENO! GENO! GENO! GENO!" and "MVP! MVP! MVP!" shook the arena on several occasions... He definitely deserves them... what a hockey player! :)

The fight near the end was pretty exciting too...

Here's a picture for you... one of my favorites that I took...

Oh -- and why not include a picture from the fight...

And who do we see going over to discuss the numerous penalties with the refs? Sid and Colby... Oh man, I still have some faith that Colby will be back in the black and vegas gold sometime soon (preferably this July 1)... I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

PENS WIN!

Ah... what an all around great game to be in attendance for... :) I absolutely cannot wait to be back in the Mellon for the game vs. LA on Friday night!

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

People don't talk like this anymore...

2009-03-17T10:43:00.010-04:00

First of all, I wanted to wish all of you, my dear friends, a HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, if only because I get to wear green, my favorite color. Tonight I'm going to the Pens game, and today is St. Patrick's Day... the day couldn't get much better.

On to the point of my post -- Yesterday I was back in Washington, D.C. with some friends of mine who had never been before. I love DC, but most of all, I love going with people who've never been before... it's all new to them, and when I'm with them I always end up seeing things in a new light.

When I was in DC back in June it was the Korean War Memorial that really got me... I hadn't been since I had been in Korea and visited the UN Cemetery. I visited the UN Cemetery in Busan, South Korea on June 25th -- the anniversary of the start of the Korean War. There was a big ceremony going on that day, and a lot of the US and foreign military that are stationed in Korea were down for it. My Korean sister and I stayed away from the ceremony since we weren't dressed for the occasion, but walked around the opposite side. Several times elderly Koreans would approach me and ask me in broken English where I was from. I would reply in one of my few Korean phrases, "I am an American." They would then take my hand, and speak to me in Korean. My Korean sister S. would translate, and these elderly Koreans were always thanking me. Thanking me for what my country had done to help them, thanking me for my relatives who had fought to save their country. I was floored, I felt both humbled and very proud to be an American.

Yesterday when I was in DC we went to the WWII Memorial located near the end of the Mall. As we walked around it I took the time to read some of the quotes that were engraved into the marble. I never remembered reading them before. There are some great quotes up there on those marble columns, and once again I felt that same way I had felt that day in the UN Cemetery -- both humbled and very proud to be an American. The men and women who said these things are some of the best citizens this country has ever had, and unfortunately, people don't talk like that anymore...

"... America will never forget their sacrifices."

I understand...

2009-03-15T20:21:00.005-04:00

I read in some article the other day that hockey players are the last group of professional athletes not to become swallowed up in the "stuck-up," "conceited" attitude. The author talked about how generally, hockey players are a nice bunch of guys who are very willing to sign autographs and talk to fans.

I always like to point this out when talking about why I like hockey so much. Honestly -- when you look at players in the NBA, NFL, or MLB -- players in the NHL seem 1000% more personable, and a lot easier to approach and see.

Another thing that points to this is the AHL's Hershey Bears. Granted, they are an AHL team, so maybe these guys still just really like to autograph their names, but you know, maybe hockey players really are different.

Last night, three of my friends and I went to Hershey to cheer on the WBS Penguins. After the game (which the Pens lost -- sad day) we went down to the door where the Bears exit the arena. There were probably about 20 fans down there waiting for autographs. After awhile the guys started exiting and started signing autographs. Right outside the door there were a couple little kids that were probably 6/7 years old. It was so cool to watch the guys talk to the kids and give them all high fives and everything. When the players would come over to us they'd take the marker, start signing our shirts, and just start talking. You know, "How are you tonight?" "What did you think of the game," "Fun to see a win eh?" It was pretty funny when the Bear's head coach began "lecturing" my friend about the best way to sign an autograph -- "You see, the secret is, you don't press to hard with the marker. Real light you see... barely touching it... see? Perfect." haha.

It generally felt like they cared. They would listen, respond, etc. etc. (That is unless they didn't speak any English -- Oh... Simeon Varlamov... But, I do think I got a "your welcome" out of him when I thanked him) It was kind of funny since we were Pens fan getting their autographs so when they would ask us if we were excited to see them get a win we would all just smile and nod. haha...

I never really understood cheering for a person, but not for the team (that is, except for Colby Armstrong). I would always like a player, and if/when they went to another team I would just become indifferent to them. I wouldn't like them, I wouldn't not like them, or of course, it would be the "I used to like them, when they played for the Pens." If anything it would be like, "I like them when they play internationally, but not when they play on their NHL team... confusing yes, but the truth...

Now... I understand...

Karl Alzner...

I don't watch a lot of Caps games (even though at home I get their home channel) so I hadn't seen him play all season when he was up in the NHL, but I had heard about him.... and let me say, last night, he really impressed me on the ice. Wow. And, he didn't just impress me on the ice, he impressed me off of it as well.

I asked for his autograph on two separate things, something I really DON'T like to do, but I did it anyway... Somehow, because I was trying to be honest, it came out that I was a Pens fan (which when it came out he just shrugged and started laughing). ha. I told him that myself and some friends of mine had been hoping to see him in Washington with the Caps the week before when we had gone to see the Pens play, he laughed and told me that maybe I'd see him there next year. We got on the topic of British Columbia (his home province) and when I mentioned it he told me, "BC, It's a beautiful place." It sounds weird, but I could see it in his eyes, he loves BC, and it really looked to me like he really misses being there... I've never been to BC, but I've seen pictures, and I certainly agree with him. It's beautiful. I've also lived in Central PA my entire life, and well, it's just not quite the same... even if Hershey does have a lot of really good chocolate.

Thus -- I've decided... even though I'll never ever be a Caps fan and I'll never be a Bears fan (even though he won't be with the Bears for long...), one player in their organization has made me a fan of his. I'm pretty sure it was unintentional, and I'm pretty sure he was just being himself, but because of that -- Karl Alzner has made this Pens fan a fan of his, and I finally understand how and why people can end up cheering for players and not the teams they play for.

Dear Karl Alzner -- I hope to see you in a Caps jersey again sometime soon, you deserve it, and frankly, the Caps probably need you up there. Even though I will always cheer for the Pens over the Caps, and I would be very happy if I never saw the Caps beat the Pens again, I hope your career with them is a great one. Believe it or not, this one time I actually want a player on an opposing team to do well. And, if someday, you end up in a Pens sweater, I would be more than thrilled. Thank you for being yourself that night in Hershey, it made this fan feel even closer to the sport that she loves. You and your Bear's teammates helped to remind me that there really are professional athletes out there that aren't concieted jerks. That really is something great to know -- the sport of hockey should be proud to have you guys. Good luck!!

24 hours and counting...

2009-03-12T10:38:00.004-04:00

24 hours and counting until I leave Kentucky and am home on the East Coast for one whole week. Really, being back this last weekend spoiled me, it made me remember how much I really do love the Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic/East Coast region of the United States.

I'm pretty sure this post is going to be another random sampling of things going through my mind... after all my blog title is something about being random...

Awesome thing #1 -- After being told that there weren't any groups of four seats together for the Hershey vs. Wilkes-Barre game on Saturday night, Ruth (probably the coolest ticket person I've ever talked to) came through and hooked us up with a set of four tickets together right behind the goal where the baby Pens shoot twice. What totally got me was that this game is practically sold-out, no way did I see that coming... this is, after all, AHL hockey in Hershey, PA. I'm pretty excited though, anytime a hockey event is getting the recognition it deserves in my neck of the woods is fine with me.

Awesome thing #2 -- GOING TO DC ON MONDAY!!! I'm not a huge fan of cities, but I love Washington, D.C. What makes it even more exciting is that my friend H. who's never been there before is coming with me. It's going to be fun to show her lots of stuff... the only problem is, there is really no way you can see everything in DC in just one day...

Awesome thing #3 -- PENS GAME ON TUESDAY! Not only is it St. Patrick's day which means that people everywhere will be decked out in my favorite color, but I also get to see Colby Armstrong back at Mellon Arena (that part will be bitter-sweet)...

(Ray Shero -- July 1st. Colby Armstrong. Please. Please. Please.)

Awesome thing #4 -- These 2 pictures.

The screen-saver on my laptop is set to just randomly pull pictures from picture files on my computer. This morning while I was studying for my test these two pictures came up on the screen... and it reminded me of something that is just around the corner -- PLAYOFF HOCKEY! (Dear Penguins -- Please make sure that playoff hockey is a reality. thank you.) The white out at Game 1 vs. the Rangers last April was incredible... I don't remember ever seeing that second picture before (I took hundreds of pictures, it obviously got lost in the mix). It's crazy how small and cold Mellon Arena looks in that picture. It probably has something to do with the ice and all the white t-shirts... Anyway, I really like that second picture... I'm going to miss Mellon Arena...

Sucky thing #1 -- It takes almost eight hours to drive pack to Pennsylvania. Well -- in my case -- ride. Thank you Anj dear. But at least, I'll be with my friends... hopefully, that'll make the time fly by... or at least go by a little bit quicker.

Sucky thing #2 -- I lost my chapstick. Yep. Not cool.

Sucky thing #3 -- The weather in Kentucky. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I don't know if there is anywhere else in the entire world that has weather has sucky as Kentucky. On Tuesday it was 80ish degrees and everyone was running around in shorts, t shirts, and sandals. Yesterday it was rainy, windy, and probably about 50 degrees. Today, it's 20 degrees and they're calling for snow. I love snow... but right now, this whole ADD weather thing is making me really angry.

Sucky thing #4 -- I need to do laundry.
(Awesome thing #5 -- I'm going to save it to do at home -- FOR FREE!!!)

Sucky thing #5 -- The coffee shoppe in the student centre ran out of vanilla flavoring. After my exam I went to get a latte to celebrate being done with my test only to find out that they're out of my favorite flavor. Ugh. That's just frustrating.

Sucky thing #6 -- The Pens play Columbus tonight and I can't watch it. Well -- I could -- because I don't have anything to do tonight, but no, my Game Centre Live gets blacked out because where I live in Kentucky is in the FSN-Ohio viewing area. Sucky thing is I don't have access to FSN-Ohio. Sad day. Sad sad day.

That seems like everything random that I could think of right now... I always apologize for being random and for having posts that have absolutely no point... So, I'll do it again -- I'M SORRY. Even though "sucky things" outnumber "awesome things" the "awesome things" far out weight the "sucky things" which puts me in a fantastic mood.

24 hours. 24 hours. 24 hours. WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Like I mentioned before -- Pens play Columbus tonight... which means they get to face the incredible rookie goalie sensation -- Steve Mason. What a kid. As much as I like watching Mason play (and I really do -- he's sensational!), I'm all for Sid, Geno, Jordan, and whoever else wants to get in on the party to light him up tonight... Come on Pens -- 8 in a row baby!!! :)

LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS!

A Superb Aide to my Procrastination...

2009-03-10T19:10:00.004-04:00

I'll be honest with you. Today during my OT class, as my Professor lectured about the Nation of Israel, Joshua, and Jericho I wasn't completely paying attention. ***Gasp***

First, my friend A. texted me to let me know that she had been accepted to nursing school... WOOT WOOT!!

Then, my friend H. texted me and asked me what the cafeteria was serving for lunch... ummm... soft tacoesque things, and to tell me how excited she was about coming to Pennsylvania on Spring Break.

And lastly, I just HAD to text my father and remind him that in ONE WEEK (the talk of spring break with H. reminded me), we'll be at beautiful Mellon Arena taking in a Pens game and getting to see Colby Armstrong (even if he's still in the wrong jersey...).

That's all it took -- starting to talk about cafeteria food, and then we got to the topic of spring break, and there it was again -- the Penguins. My friends tell me that I can tie almost every conversation back to hockey and the Penguins. I'm not sure that's true. But, while I was thinking about going to the Mellon on Tuesday I started to wonder how much earlier I would get all my homework and studying done if I didn't like hockey or the Penguins. Interesting huh?? Something about those 3 hour "study breaks" to watch games really takes a bite out of all my time at night...

(Now please, don't misunderstand this topic -- I DO get ALL my homework and studying done to the most complete and fullest amount when it's due.... sometimes, I just have to stay up late to do it.)

It's not facebook, myspace (which I don't have...), twitter, google, youtube, itunes, or any other typical procrastination aide that gets me night after night -- it's the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL's Game Center Live. haha

I have to admit though -- I am getting REALLY GOOD at working ahead on papers, and studying a lot in advance in order to get to watch the Pens games... So really then, the Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL's Game Centre live have been a good thing for me right??? Yep. That's the story that I'm going to go with.

Speaking of NHL's Game Center Live, I am VERY EXCITED to sit here at my desk and watch the Pens play Florida tonight... I'm still pretty pumped from watching the Pens win on Sunday actually -- it makes watching the game tonight even better.

^ One of the coolest things ever. A nice size Pens rally on the steps of the museum across the street from the Verizon Center on Sunday... LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! LETS GO PENS! I couldn't help but put it here and then go on and set it as my desktop image on my computer...

Wow. That was weird. I had my Game Center Live pulled up and ready to go and all the sudden a boxing match came on... boxing??? That's weird. Anyway, now a message reads, "Will Join in Progress." Hopefully they'll get the feed up and running soon... Ugh. It just came back... and it's the FSN feed coming out of Florida. That's frustrating. It's in Pittsburgh, I'm supposed to be able to watch FSN Pittsburgh. Oh well...

On a complete an utter separate topic to close this post out, because, after all, it's almost game time! A friend of mine had this scripture posted at the side of her facebook...

"Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
- Psalm 37:5-6

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

This Tuesday has turned out totally terrific... (sorry, I'm a sucker for alliterations)...

The "dissection" post...

2009-03-09T16:42:00.010-04:00

I'm sitting here at an Air Canada gate, but not because I'm going to Canada... Nope, it's the only place that I can find an outlet so that I can plug in my computer. For today at least,
Air Canada > United.

Since I promised that the rat/cat dissection posts would be done through out my time in the airport, I'm going to get right on that. You can all thank Air Canada for having outlets in their gates, otherwise, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to view this until at least next week when I had time to sit around and put this together.

RATS: Our first dissection project of the year consisted of "lovely" little rodents. My friend K. and I named our rat Angelina Jolie. I'm not exactly sure why we named her that, but I'll go with. I have definite reasons for our cat's name, but I'll explain that later.

Here is "Angelina Jolie" right before her dissection began... poor rat.

Me with what I believe to be the small intestine of our "lovely" rat. If you've studied biology at all, you know that the small intestine is really quite.... large???

We soon began to dissemble "Angelina" as directed by our lab manual. This was pretty much her end... Soon to be followed by numerous quizzes where we were required to name her various parts. Why I'll ever need to be able to tell you the location of a rat liver, small intestine, etc. etc. is past me... Oh well. At least it amounts for a semi interesting blog post.

CATS: My friend K. and I teamed up as lab partners again for cat dissection. The cat was more fun, for obvious reasons. Although, I must admit, the whole cat having hair thing was a little gross for me... I really had to psych myself up for this one. When we were directed by our instructor to name our cats my friend K. had no good ideas, and the first one I thought of was "Daniel Briere." Any of you familiar with the NHL would know that Daniel Briere is a forward for the Philadelphia Flyers. It was play-off season and my beloved Penguins were about to enter in the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Philadelphia Flyers. To add to that, my Sports Illustrated magazine came with a decent sized article about Briere... it had to be the cat's name... it just had to be. So, for the rest of the cat dissection, K. and I kindly referred to our cat as, "Danny."

Here is "Danny" prior to coming out of the bag. Haha. That sentence kind of reminds me of something else, but I'm not going to go there... haha. Anyway, if you've never dissected you wouldn't understand, but the smell of the fermaldyhide is next to unbearable. It permeated the room for days... you just can't get rid of it.

This is actually not "Danny," but rather, the cat of my friends A. and HB. There cat had the most amazing face... I just had to take a picture. It kind of makes me wonder what this cat was thinking before it met it's "end." Oh well... I guess it's for the sake of science or something...

Looking back, I'm kind of sorry that I ever took this picture... Well, sort of. haha. We had already named our cat "Danny" before my Sports Illustrated came in the mail, and well... when it did, I just had to bring it in and get a picture of the two of them together... "Danny" and Danny... together... so sweet... right?

Well -- I actually have less pictures of the dissections than I thought I did. It's really quite a pity. Oh well. I'm doing a frog dissection in the next month or two and maybe I'll be able to snag a picture from that. I hope that, overall, it wasn't all that disturbing to see... I kept out a couple that I thought were kind of gross...

Dissection post = finished. Layover = still going. I'm starting to wonder if the really nice lady sitting next to me is worrying about what I'm posting. I'm pretty sure I've caught her glancing over onto my screen... she just might have got site of some not so pretty rat/cat pictures. Oh well... maybe she did dissections at one time...

Two and half more hours (at least)... I am in Chicago after all...

***On a very unrelated, but super exciting note... I just read that the by winning yesterday's game against the Caps, the Pens completed their first ever 5-0 road trip in franchise history!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! And think, I was there to see it.... VERY VERY VERY VERY EXCITING!!!

Have a great week everyone!!

WOOOOOO!!!!!!

2009-03-08T21:14:00.003-04:00

WOW. WHAT-A-GAME today... in all reality... WHAT-A-DAY!!!

Sometime I'll post pictures (after the dissection pictures of course)... but it'll probably have to wait until spring break. I'm pretty awful at taking pictures during hockey games, I'm way to excited to think about anything but the game... but I did get a few decent ones, especially during warm-ups when we went down to the glass.

SIX WINS IN A ROW BABY!!!! GO PENS!!!

The game = excellent.
Meeting friends for the first time = splendid.

So... TODAY = AMAZING!

Ahhhhhh.... !!!

...

2009-03-06T12:31:00.001-05:00

Super short post today!

Here I am sitting in the school computer lab -- I had to walk the whole way down here in order to check in and print out my boarding pass (WOOOOOO!!!). I'm still having a hate relationship with my printer... hopefully I'll get that fixed over the weekend...

I just realized how dumb it is to be flying through Chicago on a Friday night. Yikes. It was crazy there when I flew there on a Wednesday... Oh dear. Good thing I have a lovely 2 hour lay over -- I'll have plenty of time to move through the throngs of people. haha.

I'm extremely happy right now -- :) :) :)

1. Pens won their 5th game in a row last night! And I got to gloat to the Florida Panthers fan in one of my classes... :)

2. I'm flying home today... I love flying ... and I love Pennsylvania...

3. I'm turning in a paper... so glad to have that over with.

4. The online book I'm reading was great last night, and something I had been waiting for to happen in the story finally did...

5. PENS VS. CAPS GAME IN DC -- THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW!!!!!!!

One more class till the WEEKEND!!

Hasta luego!

One thing I miss...

2009-03-05T11:01:00.012-05:00

... midnight hockey...

There hasn't been "midnight hockey" at UK for two weeks and I'm already missing it. Why don't they just play all year round?? Hhhhmmmm... sounds like a good idea to me.

Hhhhhmmmm... maybe not having hockey at UK for awhile will really build me up for the NHL off-season and make it less painful. Ummm... maybe not. Sure, I watch baseball in the summer, but it's just not the same, wow, nowhere near the same. A lot of people don't understand how I can love hockey so much and then, in the summer, be a baseball fan. I'll admit, watching hockey and baseball is totally and completely different, but you know, after watching such an intense, action packed sport from September to Mayish, I need something calmer (like Baseball) for the offseason. haha.

Yeah -- so back to midnight hockey at UK, because that's what this post is all about. I posted (25 January) awhile back the story of my friend getting hit in the head with a puck during the game, but I didn't have any decent photos of the games to put up, so I thought I'd put some up here.

I think I'm missing UK hockey so much because since their season is over, I haven't been able to see any live hockey games (yeah -- only two weeks -- what can I say...). Although, after my next two weeks (four pro games!!!) I should have seen enough live hockey to last me awhile...

<-- The Zamboni driver... the man is a legend... Granted, he does a pretty nice job cleaning the ice, but for some reason, the fans are just as enthused when he comes out on the ice as they are when the players come out on the ice. When he come to the side of the ice where the fans are everyone crowds down to the netting so that they can give him high-fives. AND -- sometimes -- he throws free t-shirts in the stands... Splendid.

The fans. Wow. The hockey fans at the University of Kentucky are unlike any other fans... Wow. Wow. That's pretty much the only word I can think of to describe the fans. Keep in mind, hockey at UK is a club sport, it gets pretty much zero financial support from the university. Everything is run by volunteers. The ice rink is PACKED every night with some crazy students (it might help that they start their games at 12am). The fans are loud and into the game the entire time... just an awesome fan experience!

In this picture you can see a rare site at University of Kentucky hockey games -- empty seats. If you look closer you can see the Police "caution tape." Pretty much -- on this night -- UK was playing one of their biggest rivals -- the University of Tennessee -- and the police who are at the games didn't want the rowdy UK fans that close to the area where the UT players/coaches walked on and off the ice. They felt the need for caution tape, but still had to keep coming over and telling people to get out of the that area... ha.

You can see more fans in this picture all around the end boards. A lot of the people down there end up standing the entire game.

Ahhh... you know what??? Looking at these pictures makes me really sad that I have to wait until September to go back and see them play again...

Notice that in this picture -- UK is winning 4-1!

<-- An "action shot" from the game vs. UT... In this picture you can also see the AWESOME mural that's painted on the wall opposite of where the fans sit. I'm pretty sure this rink wasn't built to be a hockey rink... at least not for college games. After all, it is an ice rink in Lexington, KY, and the ice is quite a bit smaller than NHL size.

<-- Another picture from the UK/UT game... I'm pretty sure in this picture the one UK player is #14... #14 is one of my favorite players on their team -- not only is he pretty good, he also hails from the great state of Pennsylvania!! You know, we Pennsylvanians really need to stick together... haha....

END OF GAME!!! UK WINS!!!!

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I have to admit, my friends and I usually complain about the intentions of some of the girls who come to the games. Granted, I know it depends on your definition of "puck bunny," but some of these girls need to be put into some sort of category. For instance... in a really tight game in which UK and Virginia Tech were tied 0-0 in the middle of the 2nd, the girls behind me were quite adamant that they wanted someone to score, they didn't care who, as long as someone did, because they were bored. They complained about being bored, and about wanting someone to score for the entire rest of the period -- and the beginning of the third. They were, of course, all decked out in UK apparel, but said stuff like, "We don't care of Tech scores, or if Tech wins, we just want to see goals, because goals are the only exciting parts." Arg. I was so annoyed.

Now for one of my favorite stories. The banner (in the picture above) is hanging in the rink. Notice that it's the Lexington Ice and Recreation Center. It also has a gym for basketball, etc. etc. Anyway, the girl behind me asked this question, "How do you think they play mini golf on ice?" The girls and this other guy went on to discuss in length how one might play mini golf on the ice rink (because after all -- that's what the sign said -- Ice skating and mini golf). ha. The conversation continued to drag on and on during the game.... Finally, I politely turned around and explained that there is a mini golf course outside next to the ice rink, they do not play mini golf on ice, the ice rink is for hockey and figure skating. It took all I had not to just turn around and say, "SHUT UP!"

Sorry that this post has continued to drag on and on... I was having fun remembering some of my fun times at midnight hockey. Oh -- and in case you had read the other post about Anj getting hit in the head... I will say that she did get her picture taken with one of the players and the infamous puck that hit her... Awesome.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

2 days till Washington..... EEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!! GO PENS!!!

Happy Wednesday!

2009-03-04T21:25:00.004-05:00

Just to start this blog off right:

3 MORE DAYS UNTIL I SEE THE PENS PLAY @ THE VERIZON CENTER... WOOOOO!!!!!

I absolutely cannot wait to see everyone! (players and friends!!)

I got back from my morning classes and found that really nothing had been happening on the Pens trade front. Good stuff. I had to go to my afternoon class, and when I returned I found that somehow I was able to watch TSN's "TradeCentre09" feed... easily one of the best things ever! :) I watched "TradeCentre09" on TSN, visited various blogs/websites, and skyped my friend B. for about 3.5 hours until the trade deadline had come and gone... it was actually around 5:15 until TSN was confident that no more trades were coming in (even though the deadline had past at 3) and Ray Shero had given his press conference. End of the day, the Pens didn't trade to get Colby Armstrong back in the black and gold (I still hold out hope that the Pens will get him in the off-season), but I was still happy to see them get Bill Guerin for *just* a conditional draft pick.

Alrighty -- here's the Pens move that irks me the most. Luca Caputi -- a Pens prospect who's currently playing in Wilkes-Barre broke some team rule (undisclosed of course) and was demoted to the ECHL affiliate of the Pens, the Wheeling Nailers. Now, normally, I'd be all for this "punishment" of demotion to the lower league, you know ... knock some sense into them, help them get their act together. BUT, NOT THIS TIME. I'm going to see Wilkes-Barre play against Hershey the Saturday of my spring break and was VERY MUCH looking forward to getting to see Caputi play. The article I read said he was demoted "indefinately," so whether or not that means he'll be back to WBS by the 14th I don't know, but I can certainly hope.

The only thing I have standing between me and my flight to the beautiful East Coast, USA is an argumentative paper on "Female Participation in the American Civil War." It's an interesting subject, and I really enjoy reading/learning about it, but right now, I am so unmotivated to finish up/fix this paper. So, here I am, writing a blog about the trade deadline, and whatever other random stuff comes to my mind. Maybe someday when I actually finish writing this paper I'll post some of it on here -- it's not that long -- and, in my opinion, it's pretty interesting.

Okay -- so -- I'm going to post one (a teaser) picture from one of my dissecting experiences from biology class... (this is for you Jess!) The post has been requested, so I figure I might as well do it, but I've decided to save it to do during one of my two layovers at the lovely (<- sarcasm font here) Chicago O'Hare airport. Afterall, who doesn't want to be stuck in Chicago writing a blog about rat and cat dissection. Yeah, I know, you're all really excited about that post now huh?? I thought so.

^ The cat that my friend K. and I dissected. Can you tell that that's what that is?? Hhhhmmm... Anyway, my friend and I might have named "our cat" after a certain Philadelphia Flyers player... haha. Looking back on it -- that probably wasn't the nicest thing, but it was right during the Pens/Flyers playoff series... yeah, well, he deserved it. haha. Sometime a picture might appear of our cat and a picture of his namesake... we'll see.

I guess it really should be paper writing time for me... blah...

HAPPY WEDNESDAY FRIENDS!!

I can never think of a good title...

2009-03-03T11:13:00.004-05:00

I realized this morning how much of my life revolves around my desk. I've calculated that I probably spend a good 3-4 hours a day sitting here... at least. When the Pens are playing the hours really add up since I sit at my desk on my uncomfortable chair watching them play on my computer screen. Today -- I'm bored -- the last week and half was spent studying frantically for midterms at every spare moment, and now I find myself with an abundance of time. Writing something here is what I do when I find myself with an abundance of time. The problem is, most of the time, I can think of absolutely nothing to write about. Maybe because I don't think anyone would care about it, or maybe because I just really have nothing to say (haha. Surprise surprise).

So -- today -- the topic that I have found this blog worthy of -- my desk. Not because I find anything unusually special about it or anything like that, but just because I spend such an abundance of time here.

My desk (on a rare clean moment during the fall semester):

Hhhhmmm... interesting huh? Yeah. I thought so. Looking at this picture I realize how much stuff I've accumulated on and around my desk since the fall semester. What all does surround my desk??

1. Pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Some of my favorites that I have ever taken. Pictures of the cast from my last two drama performances... Pictures of family... Pictures of friends... Pictures of my Dad and I at the Pens 1st Round 2 Playoff game vs. the Rangers last April (easily-- the best hockey game I've ever been to)... Other Pens game related pictures... and a picture of me and friend dissecting a cat in biology class (randomly interesting)...

2. Sticky notes. Sticky notes have become my obsession. I write an abundance of sticky notes and they are not posted every single place imaginable around my desk. Let me count them... Okay, I count 32 sticky notes that are posted right now. Wow. 32. I didn't even think I had that many. Written on them is a billion different things -- phone numbers, birthday reminders, school reminders, work reminders, hockey game dates, ebay information numbers, names of classes I want to take during fall semester, addresses... wow... just a complete random plethora of stuff...

3. Pens/Pencils/Markers. I really enjoy writing notes to people, and I usually find writing people random notes is a good way of procrastinating on studying or homework, plus I can always justify that it's a good cause. I have about three mug/cup things full of different pens/pencils/markers that I use to write these notes... They take up a lot of space, and unfortunately, usually don't get back in their cups and end up floating around my desk...

4. Random paraphernalia. My Roaming Penguin -- Brooks. A Jordan Staal bobble-head doll that I got at the Pens SCF game, two hockey pucks (one emblazoned with the Pens logo, and the other the logo of the WBS Pens), hand lotion, packs of gum, some pairs of earrings, sunglasses, a purple AC piggy bank, a Jamaican bobsled team snow globe, a stuffed cow, a hockey teddy bear I got last year for Valentine's Day... All quite interesting, with quite good stories behind them, but none the less, taking up a ton of space.

5. My computer. My computer and I definately have a love/hate relationship as seen a few posts ago -- at this point it's a love relationship. Prior to getting the virus removed, it was most definately a hate relationship. It's amazing to me how much better my computer works now that it is virus free... go figure huh?? I guess, indirectly, my printer is part of my computer. Unfortunately, right now, I am unable to use my printer since I don't have the disks to reinstall the software back on to my harddrive -- hate relationship with the printer right now.

6. Books & papers. Really quite random -- depends on what paper I'm working on, or what test I'm studying for. Right now -- an empty notebook, a biology textbook, and papers regarding being an orientation leader in the fall. Not all that interesting.

I'm sorry for this boring post, but I had about an hour to kill before lunch, and I wanted to do something... I'll try to come up with something more intellectually engaging for my next post... haha... Try is the key word there, since it probably won't happen.

On a happy ending note:

4 MORE DAYS UNTIL PENS VS. CAPS GAME IN DC!!!
WOOO!! GO PENS!!

(My friends are really starting to think I'm crazy because of how much I'm looking forward to this -- pity that they don't understand)

SOON...

2009-03-02T14:12:00.003-05:00

IN 5 SHORT DAYS...

VERIZON CENTER -- HERE I COME!!!

LETS GO PENS!!!

Not much important to say...

2009-02-26T18:56:00.005-05:00

I haven't blogged in what seems like (to me at least) ... a long time... I had two midterms, three quizzes, and two papers due this week. Fun stuff. The "fun" will pretty much be over after I take a biology exam on genetics Monday morning...

Oh -- and did I forget to mention that adding to my frustration of the week -- my computer had a virus, a big bad virus, and had to go the help desk to get fixed. The people there were a lot better than I thought they would be, and did a fine job getting my computer "fixed." Well, fixed is the operative word in this situation. They found the virus, attempted to delete it, and in the end, just ended up deleting my entire hard drive to rid it of the virus. Thankfully, I was fully aware that this was a possibility and had all 4000 of my pictures, and my most important papers backed up. When I went to help desk today to pick up my new and improved, virus free computer I kind of felt like I was picking up my baby from the hospital (what I assume it would feel like of course... since I've never had a baby...) haha. I told the help desk guy that, and he looked at me like I was crazy. I probably am.

The weather here in KY is as crazy as ever. Saturday morning it was nice, sunny, and warm -- Saturday night -- it snowed 1.5 inches. ha. It was cold all week until today -- now it's probably about 50 degrees outside. This is really killing me. I wake up every morning and have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to wear... frustrating.

This afternoon as I was taking my Old Testament midterm exam I heard my cell phone vibrating in my bag (side note: what's the point of the vibrate setting if you can still hear it??). As soon as I handed in my test I got my phone out to see that I have received a message from "32623." "32623" is the Pens text message alert number... uh oh... and all I see in the preview is, "MSG: PENS TRADE..." It's only a preview after all, I need to open the message to see who they traded right??? Well -- with my phone, it's not that easy. I had to turn my phone off and on twice in order for it to allow me to open the message up. My phone is a piece of crap. Everyday I have this feeling that I want to chuck it against the concrete walls in my room. Ugh. I figure however, that if I chuck it against the wall, verizon will refuse to give me a new phone... 9 more days until I go home and make verizon give me a new phone...

Okay, sorry that got a little off topic with a rant about my phone, it really bothers me THAT MUCH!!! AHHHH!! (whoops... ranting again) Anyway, the Pens traded "offensive" defenseman Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for winger Chris Kunitz, and prospect Eric Tangradi. Hopefully, Kunitz will work out as a winger for Sid -- or at least better than what he's had lately... (Sorry Dupuis and Kennedy -- I love you guys, but you're just not right up there...)

I'm actually most excited about the prospect, Eric Tangradi, he's absolutely tearing it up in Canada, playing for the OHL's Belleville Bulls. He is second in the OHL in scoring, only behind the great John Tavares (probably the 2009 #1 draft pick). AND -- Eric Tangradi played for TEAM USA in the 2009 World Junior Championships this last December/January. I really enjoyed watching him in the red, white, and blue, and hopefully I'll get to see him in a Pens uniform sometime soon... next season maybe??? Like I said before (in my Hockey Weekend Across America post) I absolutely love TEAM USA and anytime the Pens and TEAM USA overlap, it's a good day.

I just logged on to my NHL Game Centre Live where I can watch any game going on in the NHL -- I hadn't felt any remorse about Ryan Whitney not being a Penguin until I saw him in the Ducks uniform -- I have to admit, it felt a little weird seeing him in it... he's only ever been a Pen. Ah well. I still think, in the long run, this trade will be a good one.

I'm going to go and watch that Boston/Anaheim game and work on bio paper that's due tomorrow...

To make it official in my book:

Chris Kunitz

Eric Tangradi

WELCOME TO THE PENGUINS BOYS!!! GO PENS!!!

:D

2009-02-20T12:17:00.006-05:00

My roommate and I are talking about our "college level" writing class...hhhmmm... haha

Let's just say, I was more than prepared for this class through my high school English/Lit. classes... Speaking of my high school English/Lit. classes... Meet my high school English teacher:

Who doesn't want an English teacher who when you ask, "Do we stress you?" Would reply "No. I USED TO WORK ON A NUCLEAR SUBMARINE -- NOW THAT WAS STRESSFUL." Yep... our high school English teacher used to work on a nuclear submarine... interesting huh? Unfortunately he would always answer our requests for stories with, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Easily, those English classes (both American and Brit Lit) were the two of the most demanding classes I took in high school, but looking back on it now -- also, without a doubt, two of the best.

I miss that class.

Ah well -- enough reminiscing for the afternoon -- I guess it's about to time to go off to my college English class... blah

**Just so you know -- those pictures are two very accurate portrayals of my high school English teacher, drawn by my Korean sister SA. :) Oh... so very accurate... :) :) :)

Late Edit: So, I'm back from my "lovely" writing class. Today, we learned how to use/do MLA citations. Wow. Just wow. I've been MLA citing since at least the beginning of high school, maybe back to sixth or seventh grade. We divided into groups and had to cite, among other things, a book, a poem, and a work of art. I started doing them all, off the top of my head (without looking in the textbook) and one girl was said, "Oh, so you're an English major huh?" No. I am not an English major. It took so much for me not to say, "Nope. I've just been citing like this since middle school. I just know how to do it." Ugh. My roommate and I decided we wish we could just take the class online... so we didn't actually have to go to class. What a frustrating way to spend the afternoon... I've never appreciated some of the stuff I learned in high school Lit. class more. Thank you Mr. G!!

Happy Friday friends!

ali